Watch this space

...for my New Zealand trip with 'adventure kiwi' ! I assure you there will be bungee jumping and more!

a big 'thank you' to the judges, sponsors-New Zealand Specialist, voters, friends and readers that made the grand prize winning possible :)

watch this space for my future(and past) travel musings, I will be consolidating my globetrotting experiences on this single blog.

P.S I will be away from MAY 12th -JUNE 16th to Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjin, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Chendu, Hong Kong, Macau. Keep on reading ! :)

Final swansong

:: Mr Yeo, Nieuwendijk St, 15th December 2007 ::

:: Soren and I, Amsterdam, 18th December 2007 ::

:: At the pub with Elvis from Southern France ::

* Sings 'this is my country, this is my land, we are Singapore...' Patriotism ! whoot!

:: In the forest, Leipzig, Germany, 23rd December 2007 ::


:: Louvre, Paris, 7th January 2008 ::

-Some of my favourite shots on my list-

Pictures and stories...we wonder why sometimes we feel the need to go over them again. Just so for me, one winter later, perhaps more far away from peace; I can call upon yesterday's winter more than just in sensations and thoughts. Trust not those memories altered by time.
Just so that between waking up on misty mornings and the first note of the breaking dawn, I know for sure that this had not been just one faded vacation, dusted and shelved.

Thank you dear readers, whoever you are- an avid or a coincidental one. The point is, you stopped by to read this, whether or not it was for the pictures, for the content or for pure entertainment. This blog has come to an end. Thank you for travelling with me, it's been my pleasure.

Steering Paris

Our flight was delayed for more than one and a half hours. The pilot muttered something about the heavy fog in Paris that hampered the flight.

:: Impatient and tired travellers ::

:: I witnessed a peaceful demonstration at Paris' airport. Led by those wearing the neon orange signs. Apparently, it's a workers' demonstration. How cool, you can never see something like that in Sunny Singapore. Not since the Hock Lee bus riots ::
Bonjour ! Paris is one the most amazing cities I've been to on this trip. It is mind-blowing and one of a kind.Paris left me the strongest impression, amongst the many cities I've visited. If there are two words to describe it, they would be 'amazing' and 'beautiful'. Simple words, but Paris is true to these meanings.

I talked to an Italian lady on my trip and it was her fourth trip to Paris. I asked her why did she returned so frequently and she said "for holiday, and it's beautiful". We went to a bar near where we stayed and Elvis who lived in Southern France has lived in Paris for SIX long years and he said this, " I have not seen everything in Paris".

What I offer to show you on this blog is of course, mere snippets from a five day stay here. What is so attractive about Paris is hard to pinpoint. Maybe it's the air of joie de vivre. Or the way I felt like was steering Paris in my own private car. Or maybe it's the unexplainable excitement that hung in the Parisian air. They say, when you visit a place and it leaves you hungry and yearning for more of it, that place has made successful travelling for you.

Myths and common misconceptions I would like to debunk about Paris:
1. People are snobbish
2. The French refuse to speak English to tourists
3. People are unfriendly (I've talked to so many strangers there and other like-minded tourists)

Truths:
1. Paris is expensive, especially around the main city center.
2. The French are fun and funny
3. The Metros are really dirty

We stayed in the outskirts of the city center, and I have been to the suburbs of Paris to visit their flea markets,etc. To begin with, I am never one who is graatified drawing up conclusions just by visiting the city center. They only show the best, the most modern attractions to you.
In the outskirts, I felt more like I was somewhere in Africa, maybe Madagascar or something. Even the names of the shops, like "Afrique Land" made you believed so. There are many Africans residing in Paris. Unsurprisingly, they reside more in the outskirts than in the main city center. The few I spotted in the main city center could be counted on one hand, and they were all immaculately dressed.

:: Situated near Montmarte in the red light district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy ::


:: All dressed up for the glitzy affair @ Moulin Rouge. The dress code was 'elegant'. I loved the black silken gloves I bought in Germany :) ::

We were not allowed to snap photos during the Cabaret muscial (well, it's Cabaret afterall ) so I only snapped photos after. A little history perhaps, it was a rest between two wars, a period of transition between two centuries, during which the social barriers collapsed, when the industrial revolution gave hope of a better life for all, in a rich cultural profusion and that promised much fun. And from that, bloomed Moulin Rouge, traditional cabaret performance. Tickets are priced at €89 (without dinner) but I reckon, terrific live performance that exceeded my expectations.

:: Eiffel tower in the day. So sturdy, you could lean on it ! :::: Eiffel tower by dusk. And yes, I could hold it in my hands, muahaha ::

:: Eiffel tower by night. At sporadic intervals, the tower turns sparkly like a thousand shiny stars competing for something ::

:: Eiffel tower up-close and personal. It's a giant I tell you. The Queue and waiting time is 45 min to an hour. We gave it a miss and walked for half an hour to take the giant ferris wheel instead. Afterall, they serve the same purpose :: You know when the Europeans say "it's just a 15 min walk " or "it's just round the corner", it;s NEVER just round the corner by Singaporean standards. By the time I walked from the Eiffel Tower to the ferris wheel, I was breathless. It was a half an hour hike and I had to cross 2 big bridges. Ok, so maybe I'm just weak.

::The 100-metre tall giant ferris wheel that cost 9 Euros per pax.
The ferris wheel is big but it is is only a quarter of the Eiffel Tower's height ::

:: I love heights and dangling in the air! The higher the better. This beats the para-sailing I did in Pattaya, Thailand::

:: At Montmarte, this shop called Pylon sells the most interesting and eye-catching kitchen/household wares.

What a great business idea ;)
At the same time, check out my non-shiny leather Morgan boots, purchased it at a discounted rate in Paris ! Boots in Amsterdam are more costly than those in Paris, argh.

:: Cute alligator-shaped pizza cutters ::
:: Pylon's cute umbrellas! I was so tempted to buy but they were 20 Euros each (SGD 40, ouch!) :::: Traditional French food- Crepes! Expensive, even at the roadside stalls! This costs me 5 Euros at a restaurant (SGD 10 and I think this is so easy to make) ::

:: At the suburb with my new-found Afrique friends, haha ::

Winter and willpower

Sometimes winter can be so exhilarating. It makes me wanna dance, write a poetry or raise my hands like this,. I reached down to touch the snow and they felt like powdered dust.

:: Leipzig, East Germany, 23rd December 2007 ::

Or come up with ridiculous poses like this :

:: The Sphinx statue outside the Imperial Palace, Vienna ::

Other times, it can be quite torturous.
Like the awfully cold and wet Vienna weather and hailstorms. Add to that, the load of your backpack.


:: Vienna (Wien), 30th December 2007 ::

The cold is comforting, but it is also powerful and frightening.
Most of the times though, when it's awfully cold and snowy, it's beautiful.
Snow-scapes are amazing. Pristine whiteness. Now, this is what I call, "walking in the winter wonderland",

It snowed in Hamburg, Leipzig and Vienna when I was in these places. Beautiful, each one carried a different tune.

more walking in prague

There are two very distinct characteristics of Prague. One, the Gothic architectures; two, the ubiquitous cobblestoned paths. I swear they are a killer to my precious toes! Not to mention I was walking in flat-soled boots meant for walking long distance. Still, it hurt a lot.
Torture chamber man.

:: Put your hands up for Prague. I'm on the top of the world, looking ::

After an arduous climb up cobblestoned steep paths (really felt like you're going up the Great Wall of China), we finally reached a high point where we could have a bird eyes' view of Prague. The view was splendid indeed and the streaks of pink and purple splashed against the blue sky like an artist's work on blank canvas.

There... the fruits of my long, hard hike.

:: At dusk, the spires on the mosque stand out amongst the rest of the houses and buildings ::

:: My back view and the accidental gorgeous comet-like Aeroplane trail above ::

:: The famous Prague castle ::

:: After walking up MORE cobblestoned paths- except this time they were even steeper- we arrived at the second tourist hotspot. The first (which was the bird eye's view thing I was talking about ) is only a prelude to a more spectacular, magnificent entity.
pro
The Prague castle is so gargantuan that even when I lay prostrate on the ground, I was unable to capture the entire castle. The photo does injustice to how it looks like in real life.
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:: Interior musical decor of winged cherubs strumming harps and violins inside Chapel of Mirrors::

Opera concerts are considerably cheap in Prague. I love! We went to watch a Christmas opera concert with songs from Mozart and Beethoven. Opera is a large part in European tradition, especially Vienna, Prague and Italy. My first and last Opera concert in this Europe trip, undisputedly a charming experience!

The Chapel of Mirrors (where the Opera was held) is also a significant place. Aa gentleman rang a bell and began explaining the significance of the place for 20 mins or so, in Czech, French and Italian. Unfortunately, no English so...
The only thing I gathered was...lots of Baroque art in the Chapel of Mirrors ! :)

:: Sat in the 3rd row from the FRONT ! I';ve got VIP seats ! Aha yippee yay !!!
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:: Czech-style Absinth! ::

Also referred to as 'Bohemian style'. Originated from Switzerland, Absinth is well-known for its addictive and psychoactive deleterious effects. Artist Van Gogh cut off his ear due to excess Absinth. No messing around with Absinth!

:: Kitchen in the hostel. Not bad I say, feels like a mini apartment of sort ::

:: Shot of the bathroom ::

Hostel Albert has cosy rooms but I had to overcome the scariness of having NO receptionist and a pitch dark receptionist desk. The rule is if the guests need anything, we could sms them. So yeah, no room service, no reception, no physical "help line". Apart from that, we stayed on the first floor and a chill ran down my spine when I saw the stairway leading upstairs. It was, also pitch dark. So, I wondered, even as I am typing this now, whether we were the only occupants in the whole building. And mind you, it was not a rectangular, glass walled building as you might perceived, try a dark grey medieval castle. I take comfort in knowing that the tram stop (the tram runs 24 hours, phew) is located directly outside our temporary residence.

We were given the main door keys and when we first returned, the entire place was, pitch black as well. No thanks to their automatic light-saving bulbs.
Hostel Albert left me quite an impression. On the last day of Prague, the staff promptly smsed me this on my handphone "Hi. pls leave the keys in the apartment. thanks". So much for being there. Technically, they were, but only on the first day to collect payment.

Off the beaten path of Czech Republic

Here is a visual slice of Europe. I uploaded a video of the beautiful Vltava River which gracefully snakes under de famosi Charles Bridge- one of Prague's most enthralling tourists' attractions. Watch the waters scintillating, literally like diamond-shaped stars on the water!


:: The maverick musician from 'The Bridge Band' (literal yes, but that's what they call themselves) who uses metal thimbles and egg beaters to make drum beats. Unprecedented, off-cap to him ;) ::


:: 'The Bridge Band' consisting of mainly older musicians ::

They are superb, we even bought their CDs for 15 Euros ! Astounding, tracks-halting voices and really cool old-school musical instruments they used, those that most of us would have deemed as obsolete. Apart from musicians, there is a plethora of Caricature artists and glass jewelry sellers trying to vie for tourists' attention and of course, their moolahs.

:: The entrance of the famous Charles Bridge::

This is not the best of shots but it is the best I could manage whilst squeezing amidst a massive crowd and watching out for any pickpockets ready to prey on the gullible Singaporean. Prague will not be Prague without Charles Bridge. This magical city of bridges, cathedrals, gold-tipped towers and church domes, has been mirrored in the surface of the Vltava River. We had a bit of a problem getting around Prague and communicating with the people because Czech language is incredibly difficult to pick up. German and Dutch were much easier. Oh, and of course I had the aid of my English-German guide book and German friends around.

:: Bohemian kings, some of whom ruled as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire including Charles IV who built the 'new town', Nové město, an important hub at that time ::

:: I managed to capture some intricate detailing of the entrance of Charles Bridge's friezes::


:: More Gothic statues along the Bridge heavy Catholic/religious innuendos, an influence originated from the Holy Roman Empire rulers ::

Even along the streets in the city center area, Prague is replete with medieval Gothic influence. A tad too much for my personal liking.

:: Vltava River . It was a glorious sunny winter day that makes almost any photo pretty ::

:: And nothing beats Czech beer. Smooth texture. perpetually cold and a delectable faint whiff of alcohol when gulped. Although I would add that nothing beats beer in Europe because they are so ridiculously cheap. You can purchase beer for 1.50 Euros (S$ 3). Not to mention, they really aid in keeping you warm in winter! ::

Prague is famous for hand-made glass ornaments. Anything glass. Czech beads, glass earrings, glass teardrop shaped stuff (see on top) ::