Paris to Amsterdam to Singapore

My final day in Paris and the last day of my trip.

Woke up nice and early to cram in a couple more things before I had to leave. Essential things like buying a load of foie gras and confit as lasting souvenirs of my pigginess. Hit the rue de rivoli and snagged wonderfully expensive chocolates from Jean Paul Hevin's Spring/Summer Collection 2006. (Right. They even have seasonal collections for chocolates. Whatever. Im such a sucker.) Headed over to rue de Mouffetard to get some cheese to take home but managed to get lost as refused to use a map and look touristy. By and by, I found a produce market anyway and got a great selection of cheese from a very nice fromagerie.

I have no idea why people insist the French are snobby or unhelpful. The French people I met were more than happy to put up with my crappy French and/or spoke fluent English as well. So this cheese guy helped me pick out a very delicious Roquefort, a cool leaf wrapped chevre, a Brie, a camembert and a very nutty hard cheese. Vacuum-wrapped everything beautifully as well. Oh yes, and before that I fell prey to this guy offering foie samples and bought tins and tins of foie and confit. That really hurt mu bottomline in more ways than one.

Cheese, chocolate and foie in hand (in my luggage actually), I trundled my luggage to the Gare du Nord for the TGV to Amsterdam. Fast forward past the long ride to Amsterdam Schiphol, and I was at the airport ready to check in. Actually I had already checked in except they refused to let me board without my air ticket. Apparently I had mistaken my Eurolines bus pass for my airticket and my real air ticket was nowhere to be found. So there I was in front of the KLM ticket counter, tossing clothes and tins out of my luggage, frantically searching for my air ticket. Argh. Nothing there. To add insult to injury, a lonely tin of foie rolled desolatorily away and stopped in front of a little blonde kid who happily KICKED it back to me. Nasty little bugger.

Whined and pleaded with the ticket staff to reissue me another one, but nopie, no can do without the original PAPER TICKET. (Note to oneself, don't be such a cheap ass and get PAPER TICKETS. who in the world actually uses PAPER TICKETS NOW????) To make a long story short, I woke my bf up in Sydney and made him hunt through my luggage (ahem... i did some shopping and he kindly took back my excess), fax my ticket over, refax my ticket, refax again, didn't come through. Type out my whole ticket, print it out, fax that through...

Smack on the dot, I managed to get a new ticket at a hefty charge, raced through customs and plopped myself on the plane.

Not surprisingly, I arrived back in Singapore before my luggage did. But it was a great trip anyhow.

2 Days in Paris

paris was nice today although i was very very tired.
drank loads of coffee and treated myself to a good lunch at the museum. walked the whooooole day and saw loads and lods of stuff... good thing tml i have a relatively late wakeup call so i can sleep in for ONCE!!!

but im annoyed at this stupid chinese lady who i tried to help. cos she wanted to buy a phone card to call god knows who, then i offered to take her and go look. then i helped her buy summore... but they way she act like she was doing me a huge favour lidat. what the helll... sometimes its not nice being nice.

ate so much munchies today. hehe. good bakery right next to my hostel; had a yummy flaky buttery pain au chocolat today. i plan to extensively try their offerings over the next few days!! haha... wish my waist line luck.

yesterday i slept in and had long leisurely brekkies and lunch (more abt that later!). went to the picasso museum where they had a massive exhibition on one of his MANY girlfriends. his work is so passionate and powerful and so... different from traditional; art (hey look at the lifelike cow in the lifelike pasture etc). it was a little difficult to understand. so walked around after the museum and found like a massively long street filled with mens clothes. like beauitufl tailored suits with superfine wool 100-300 (? jason!!) for like 100 euros and shirts for like 20. tons of ties, those little vest thingies (waistcoats?), cravats etc. it was like dress up party town. and marais (the suburb i was in) is just so pretty! Tons of little cafes and boutiques with expensive clothes. (sigh) walked around a bit more and found their accessroies quarter with wholesale outlets for every possible type of accessory a gilr could ever want. walked around a bit more and found the kookai factory outlet. yes ladies and gentlemen in the know (aka jason) they have a kookai outlet. but im like so tired of shopping, nothing seemed nice at all!!

so i went for lunch.

found a nice sunny cafe/brasserie (what is the difference man!) and got a starter and a dessert. mmmmmhhhmmm... foie gras with tomato confit and toast... so good! i dont care abt the whole high fat cholesteral crap as long as idont eat ot everyday. but SO GOOD. it was very rich, but only mildly liver tasting. the tomato confit reminded me of fatty crab though. didnt put too much on my foie cos it sort of masked the rich yummy taste. im just drooling thinking of it... pavlovian response. and for dessert had a very rich and very cloying molten chocolate cake which was good, but not as excellent as the vanilla ice cream served with it. now that was good vanilla. u could even see the specks of vanilla bean which they used to make it. i think it was berthillion ice cream. oh and did i mention earlier in the day i had a scoop of berthillion ice cream (btw its a really famous ice cream or as they call it glace, shop in the latin quarter), pistachio of course (love love pistachio. my new fvaroite flavor), and it was great! smooth, creamy not too sweet. it was perfect! oh and the wine i ahd with lunch was very sweet but very drinkable. france seems to have loads of affordable wines (3 euros least i tink) which are pretty good. definitely grab a couple bottles on the way home. spain too. although amsterdam had crappy wines.

so went shopping after lunch, or as they say, leche le fenetre (lick the windows). it was really awesome. the french call their dept stores grand magasins and believe me,. it was huge. they gave u road maps. so expensive though. contemplated getting a pair of jeans which would have cost me 215 euros, but OUCH.

London and back to Paris

had a great day in london with jesse and alex (hc mates) who kindly took me around the city and we basically bummed around, walked around the famous places and they gave me a well rehearsed spiel abt the history etc. it was good seeing them after 1.5 yrs. probably another 2 years before we can meet up again.... oh well.

so spent the night wide awake on the bus and ferry crossing from dover to calais. believe me it wasnt for lack of trying on my part. too cold to sleep on ferry and the bus wasnt the most comfy. so now im really tired but check in isnt till 4pm. so im off to the louvre for now. free internet in this place, so i might go online later after the louvre.

p.s. the receptionist fellow is so poncy, really seems to despise u if u dont speak fluent french. tsk tsk. probably cos his english sucks.

Santiago de Compostela

left porto early this morning and managed to wet myself in the process. my silly water bottle spilled all over my bag and my pants making it look like i wet myself. so embarrassing. endured a 5 hour train ride and arrived in beautifully sunny santiago. apparently its not always sunny; rains for weeks at the time. but maybe god felt guilty for wetting my pants. anyway, found my hostel EASILY for once. its pretty nice too! except my roomie is a weird ass from uk, made in china though. teaches bible studies, has her hair in two pony tails and... take my word for it. she´s weird. so ate my bread and cheese and strolled around the city/town. its really so PRETTY. parks and gardens everywhere dotted with ancient historical buildings. maybe cos its mainly a uni town so its pretty. if not it would be overrun with maniacal tourists clobbering each other for good shots. that reminds me, my camera got drenched, so not working... hope it dries up!!!

so tml im hopping on a plane to uk to meet up with dear old chan lek and alex and jesse (hcjc friends) and visit cambridge and london. guess it´ll be fun seeing them after so long!!! altrhough they have exams so ill probably hang out myself and see them for dinner and stuff. going paris soon! i booked a bike tour to versailles and monet's garden on two separate days, so that'll b fun too. hope the good weather holds out. im thinking of buying tons and tons of books in london... so many good books and cheaper there me thinks... :) plus i know i have very little luggage :P

Porto

Porto, land of port wine.

Its also one of the most picturesque cities I've been to on this leg of my journey (i.e. spain/portgual). Not much of an attempt has been made to tart up this city for tourists which means it still retains its dingy exteriors, winding roads, dark alleys and bonejaring cobblestones. Its the kind of city you fall in love with as you walk up winding paths and chance upon a small, old yet beautiful fountain tucked away on a corner of a nondescript road. its the kind of city that looks beautiful even when its pouring with rain and the wind threatens to knock you off your feet. its the only city in which i,ve been completely drenched and i still like. thats something huh. :)

I got to porto in the afternoon, arranged my train tickets to santiago de compostela, spain and walked out of the train station and was gobsmacked by the castle to my left, perched charmingly on a hill and the winding roads spread out on my right. its just so easy to imagine porto a few hundred years ago when feudal lords still lived in the castle; it hasn't changed that much. on the train ride from lisbon, the countryside burst forth with colour and life. tall spindly forests gave way to fields dappled with bright yellow flowers and lush greenery. sheep and cows lay complacently in the grass as they enjoyed the fleeting sun. the river rushed unceasingly below a graceful, soaring bridge that spanned the valley which is porto. (btw porto lies on both sides of the valley, i.e. on hillside). the people here are incredibly friendly.

braving the rain, i made my way around town, stopping at coffeeshops when the rain became too heavy. i sacrificed part of my Daily Telegraph to the rains, but my pants are STILL WET. good thing i bought linen pants which dry pretty fast, but they get wet also pretty fast. a yummy tart here, a coffee there, and soon i was on the other side of the river, admiring the many houses packed against the vertical face of the hill and the elegant bridge soaring across the river. the side of the river i was on, is well known for its many port wine caves (wine cellars) and i strolled into sandeman (some famous producer i think) and took a wine tour. a few minutes later, i was the proud owner of 2 bottles of port: one ruby and one white. port is sweet, almost sugary. the white has a rich aromatic honey taste with a strong brandy base which helps to lighten it. would taste good with cheese me thinks. this one ill keep for myself. the ruby was more fruity with almost juicy undertones. its all very young and very drinkable, nothing to get excited about though. the 1908 vintage was tempting though, at the low price of 3000 euros. lol. going to give the ruby to uk friends in return for board. haha. cheap wine.

now sitting in internet cafem waiting for rain to let up so i can get some stuff from the super makret and maybe walk around a little before going back to my, ahem, three star hotel. thats the most stars ive had in a looooong time. lol.

Madrid to Lisbon

Okay people, I'm in lisbon now, leaving for porto tomorrow (port wine is from porto) and santiago de compostela day after then on 23rd flying to london to stay one night in cambridge and then leaving for paris the night after.

whoa. confused alredy? i know i am.

so i spent 1.5 days in madrid and i dont remember doing much. for one, my hostel was pretty central but it was a little crappy. the toilet was pretty much falling into little pieces, my room was shit ass noisy (3 guys.) and i was a target for every mossie and bedbug in the place. yes people, my face is again peppered with bites and what not. so ugly. i look like i have acne. madrid was pretty. but new. nothing much to get excited about. but i visited the prado museum and the highlight was goya's black paintings. he did these towards the end of his life and they were pretty dark and introspective. very modernist but beautiful. the rest were normal pretty pictures but bleah.

so flew out from madrid and plomped myself in lisbon. same old crpa abt hostels, mix up with reservation so got a craoppy hole for the night. bites again. scartached the whole night. but nice old city. very tunnel like streets and old houses. very very sugary portugese tarts. lousy strawberries. what else can i say? looking forward to meething up with friends though.

Sevilla

Today I was depressed and lonely. After 2 days of travelling with Jason and actually having someone to talk to other than myself, it was difficult getting back to solo travelling. but with the help of sunshine and loads of sugar, i think im managing.

Seville is really small but its spread out over quite a chunk of land. its very much moorish/muslim influenced architecture and has a beautiful moorish palace with the most intricate carvings i´ve ever seen in europe or asia for that matter. geometric designs carved into stone, wood and elaborate mosaics covered the walls and ceilings of the palace. themed gardens reminiscent of idyllic days in the sun gave cool relief to the sun outside. (sunblock required) but i wasnt really interested in all that bish bash. so bored walking through the gardens feeling so lonely and miserable. it´s easter sunday and the streets were filled with families celebrating easter; men were dressed in smart navy suits, women in chic couture dresses and leather bags, children wore a scaled down version of their parents. i was wandering the streets alone and feeling daggy and worn out. my luggage was still in barcelona while i was in seville. my pants had been worn and not washed for over a mth. i had the grand total of 2 t-shirts.

the shops were all closed, i couldnt find english newspapers... my life was a sham. i feel like coming home right now but the only thing stopping me is how mch i know i would regret it and the money ive already spent on airfare etc. not to mention my hostel is freaking expensive. and i couldnt get into a bullfight. and i visoited a flamenco museum which was ok only and cost me 10 euros. so after bumming around in my room for a bit, i went for a walk around the park and to visit the few other attractions seville has to offer ( i.e. 2 buildings and a park)

tomorrow im headed off for cordebo which is a town 40 minutes away by a very fast train. its costing me an arm, leg and ten toes. but stupid me got an early ticket so ill be there at 8am in the morning. with a leisurely brekkie and a slow walk to the mosque, it shoud be alright. then i might get a haircut(hair like mop) and then come back in the evening. another walk around the town then leaving for madrid on tue morning for cheaper hostels and again nothing much to see in madrid. lol. hai.

Barcelona

after i last emailed you, i went walking around barcelona and its a really vibrant, energetic city. also probably cos its easter, and my hostel was a little far from the city but oh so nice. i took a train to parc guell which was designed by Gaudi, a famous spanish architect. it was filles with weird, wonderful buildings and designs which looked sort of gingerbread house like. i waljked right up to the top of the park and it was so beautiful! you could see the whole city stretching out in front of you and the blue sea in the distance where the sea met the sky. jazz music played in the background as we were serenaded by wander9ing musicians. wandered around the park for a while, then hopped on a train to la rambla which is the main strip with loads of street performers etc. the weather was beautiful, warm sun, sunny blue skies... found loads of shops and stuff whcih all looked nice and interesting and stuff but wasnt very excited though.... huge zaras and mangos but... whats wrong with me??? :)

second day, i met up with jason and we hung out at montserrat which is a little town on the top of a hill (in singapore it would be a mountain). the weather was a little chilly so we didnt stay long after seeing the monastry and walking around for a bit. lunch was very good though; chicken with white beans with loads of olive oil. so tender and moist and superbly flavoured. hung out around la rambla looking for tapas but didnt find very good tapas which was a little disappointing. the next day we went for a walk along the shoreline and saw the cathedral and shopped around the whole day. one key highlight of our day was lunch at the mercato boquaria which was the market smack in the centre of the city. it was busytlingly busy with tourists, locals etc all buying fresh produce or just gawking. the market was flled with bars where u could hop up and order a meal cooked to order (usually seafood). wonderfulkly fresh but SO SALTY. most dishes were just quickly grilled with olive oil and herbs and smacked in front of you. really fun stuff. :) the grilled asparagus was excellent although in other cases would haveb been considered extremely overcooked.

dinner was at Set Portes which is a famous restaurant serving paellas. smart little me made reservations ahead of time so we waltz right past the very long queue and went straight in (haha). we had a very salty salt cod salad with crushed tomatoes and olives, fresh crusty bread with small olives and extra virgin olive oil, a stewed squid and meat balls, croquettes (mashed potatoes deep fried) and a rich man´s paella (peeled seafood and chicken). very good but salty salty salty. the vino blanc we had was excellent as well for a cheap 12 euros.

headed back after that as had early flight to catch. didnt get much sleep and arrived in seville (south spain) tired and grumpy. luggage still in barcelona and i just bought tickets to madrid for tues and planning a daytrip to cordoba tomorrow. hoping to catch a bullfight today if possible, good thing they decide the kill bulls on EASTER SUNDAY after christ has been hmmm... redeemed?

A Day in Paris

From Athens I flew back to Amsterdam and took a bus to Paris where I was due to fly out to Barcelona. Phew. All because of some bad planning on my part.

So I had a nice long day in Paris. I found my hostel and it had a beautiful view of the Sacre Coeur (spelling!!). It looked nice and cosy and it wasn't until I took a shower that I realised how crummy it actually was. The shower did not shower, it merely misted. Oh boy. Water bottle to the rescue!

Step 1: Fill up water bottle with warm water from tap
Step 2: Scuttle back to shower and upend water bottle over head
Step 3: Repeat and add soap/shampoo as appropriate.

You get the idea?

That aside, I happily put on the boots Jason gave me last birthday and walked from Montmarte (my favourite place in Paris) to Champ Elysee, through Tuileries, to Louvre, across to St Germain for a gorgeous macaroon by Pierre Herme. Pierre Herme has chocolate boutiques in Paris and Japan and by boutique I mean a Tiffany-lookalike place where chocolates are displayed in glass cases like the finest jewels. DROOOOOL.


So I got my gorgeous macaroon (pink rose petal one in right hand corner), I proceeded to a nearby square and tore into it like a ravenous beast. Apparently there were riots or strikes or something because there were policemen all around but one of them was kind enough to wish me "Bon Appetit". I felt so safe munching on my massive macaroon. It was the size of my palm. Words could not begin to describe its delicate rose flavour, airy crisp macaroon-y bits and the sweet yet tangy lychee bits. So you should just fly down to Paris and buy yourself one.


Ouch Ouch OUCH. Cobblestones and heels are not on friendly terms. After I finished my munchies, I walked down to the Musee d'Orsay. Horrible long queue. Feet hurt. Go to Champ Elysee to get new shoes. See tall lean Frenchie, flag him down, ask him where the metro is, yummy Frenchie takes me there. That's one french fry i would definitely eat. Lol.

Waddle into GAP, grab a pair of grey-silver ballet flats. oOooooOooooOOOOOOhh... SO GOOD.

woke up at 4am the next day to start hike to bus station being that there were no buses or metro and didnt want to take a cab cos it would be ´too expensive´ (such a joke). walked and walked and walked with aching shoulders from backpack and dumbass wheelie which insisted on banging my heels every two minutes. to top it off, it decided to start drizzling. so there i was, hot, sweaty and cold. gross. it was abt 545 when i decided i couldnt make it on time and tried wavng down cabs who all happily ignored me. continued walking, found a metro but... it was the wrong line!! at this pt of time, i sort of knew it was a gone case. but i persisted. no cabs, no bus, only rain. finally met a nice french lady who told me how to get to the nearest metro ( i.e. the one i just left) and also the real time. it was 610 not 5.50. ARGH. gave up cos bus left station at 6 and no more buses till the next flght which was god knows when. called a cab which screwed me out of 120 euros (including a self-awarded tip, no doubt because i fell asleep and farted in the cab). made my flight but my carry on was too heavy for ryanair (wheelie) so opened it to remove some stuff to put in backpack. to my horror, my extra bag and seeping bag were missing! but thankfully my gucci boots were still there. dumbass thieves.

made made made my flight for which i will be forever thankful although at that price i could have got a full service flight and not needed to wake up at such an ungodly hr. now in barcelona and im consoling myself with the fact that, after this morning... THINGS CANNOT GET ANY WORSE.

Athens and Islands

I met a nice Japanese girl last night and we went on the Islands thingy together. She's a really nice girl, very feminine and girly. Not at all like me. :)

Horror of horrors. The cruise ship was like something out of my travel nightmares. It was big, massive and filled with overweight tourists looking for a cheap thrill. Coupled with the terrible lunch they served and overpriced drinks... At least the islands were beautiful.

They were what I'd imagined Greece to be after I obsessively read every book on Greek mythology I could lay my grubby paws on. Whitewashed buildings gleaming in the sun with olive skinned children playing in the streets. Rocky outcrops surrounded by deep dark forests.

Athens and the Acropolis

beautiful sunny gorgeous meditereanian (spelling error) weather. cloudless blue skies. cool breezes. could anything be less perfect? imposing yet graceful ruins. the acropolis was fabulous. perched on top of a hill overlooking the whole city of athens, its surrounded by lush green gardens and broken bits of past civilisations. athens stretches from one end of the horizon to the other. the sea appears mistily in the distance, almost obscured by the sheer mass of humanity packed in a tight cluster below. far away you can vaguely make out distant islands: aegina and poros? the acropolis is a paean to the might of greece civilisation. built as a tribute to their goddess athena, it serves also to emphasise the lengths to which greek society has progressed.

a pity especially when you compare it to greek society now. greeks seems like a nice bunch of people, with friendly even chivalrous men a la italian men. but it also has the most lascivious. in 1.5 days ive already been picked up twice and by increasingly dubious people. within 2 minutes of sitting down and me ignoring him completely, this chubby balding dude was telling me abt his sex life. waaaaaad???

that aside, i like greece. its everything i've dreamt of and... more(?). too bad i only have 1.5 more days and ive already signed up for a 3 island tour to visit the nearby islands. it was actually 88 euros but i bargained it down to 73. still expensive but i figure it'll be worth it, afterall it'll save me the trouble of hunting down transport.

i remember when i was a kid we did that when we went to london. i also remember back then we didnt stay in hostels but in cheap b&bs but those were fun too. the paris one was in the attic and had a quaint slanted roof. it wasnt 5 star lodgings but it was great fun and comfortable all the same. i remember the baguette we bought which broke into half even before we ate it. so silly :)

this trip has taught me a lot. now i tink im so used to travelling alone because of the great sense of independence. i can go anywhere do anything without having to niggle naggle with a travelling companion. but its also made me appreciate human comfort more. sometimes when i see something especially poignant or heart wrenchingly beautiful, i wish i had someone to share it with.

there are so many things i want to do and so little time! i still want to visit morocco, go on safari in africa, backpack india, climb in nepal, see lamas in tibet, travel china, eastern europe... russia... so many places so little time... even a year would not be enough. i only have 3 weeks left of this trip and im going to visit paris, spain, portugal, brussels, london. i hope there's enough time to properly explore the place.

Athens

my first impression of athens was that, i could have just viisted malaysia. despite holding the olympics only recently, athens is very much a underdeveoped city. it has a long and illustrious past but a blighted future. it has beautiful historic ruins but has not managed to promote them sufficiently. advertising is still billboard style and much can be done to improve on this.

i walked around the city centre today which seems like a whole different world from the outskirts and surrounding suburbs. my hostel is a joke as usual. hotel zeus. it needs a miracle. lol.

tomorrow going to the acropolis which will be fantastic as usual. it lies on a hilltop overlooking the whole of athens. cant wait. then probably the day after will take the whole day to explore the surrounding islands and then on friday before i leave will go to the national archaelogical museum of athens. i wish i could spend more time here. would have loved to visit apollos (?), mykonos and other islands with all the fabulous myths. should also have read homer's illiad before coming. oh well. :)

Bike Tuscany

yesterday i visited the salvatore ferragamo museum in the very historic and very expensive headquarters here in firenze (florence). the museum was pretty interesting; apparently he had somewhat of a foot fetish and did a lot to improve shoe design and has like a gazillion patents.

so inspired, i hopped on a bus and went outlet shopping. the bus ride there and back was one of the most beautiful sights of my life and im not talking abt the sight of designer factory outlets. tuscany is simply breathtaking. its rolling hills, verdant fields, meandering rivers... just five minutes out of town and the whole landscape changes. i just bought a book today and apparently in the towns and villages outside of the city centre, people try to live their lives pèretty much as their forefathers always have. making pasta by hand, tiling their fields... except now they have patents on their cow poop etc... :)

shopping was inspiring. and debilitating to dads credit card. yummy gucci boots for a fraction of the instore price. in return i bought dad a emporio armani shirt collar size 15 3/4, hopefully it fits. if not... he needs to go on a diet. also a pair of fendi sunglasses for which ive already lost the casing. oh well.

went back to the hostel early and met my roommates for the night. its a pretty nice hostel with very friendly people. yday had 2 aussies who're backpacking europe and going back very broke and a italian guy from torino.

that reminds me, i've yet to be harrassed on this trip and hopefully i wont, but i keep getting hit on by strange old men. old like 40. icky. i just make excuses and run away asap.

so anyway today woke up early as usual and went to the gallerie accademica to see the perfect man: david by michaelangelo. it was really good... can understand why they built a whole building around him, but just brings to mind... did they ever ever ever wear clothes??

visited the Boboli gardens in the afternoon and also saw the mythologies et erotique. its an art exhibit with the theme of erotica in mythology and its not pornographic or anything. just talking abt couples in mythology like... venus and adonis etc. it was good and a nice change from dusty old relics.

tomorrow im hopping on a bike for a tour to chianti and will visit a winery and olive oil place thingy - oil field? costing me an arm and a leg but i figure its worth it. im in love with tuscany and really dont want to leave tomorrow night for rome. but have already spent so much time here. good thing ive started asking around for house prices... anyone want to donate a couple dollars to my holiday home?

Tuscany - Siena

Today I tried to book a shopping tour of all the designer outlets in Florence. Fortunately for my father and unfortunately for me, the tour didn't have enough people to depart. So I hopped on a train to Siena which is a little town an hour and a half away from Florence.

It was also one of the most beautiful places I've been on this trip.

Leaving the city, the countryside changes from industrial to relatively untouched. I'm delighted to say that the rolling hillsides and burnt orange buildings of Tuscany are not guidebook myth. Groves of olive trees flashed by the train window, little gardens flourished next to the railway lines... Adorable little old couples tended their little gardens... It was like a Disney movie.

Siena was also equally charming with its cobblestone roads and tightly crowded buildings. I didn't visit any tourist spots, just walked around the meandering streets and poking my head into every cafe (ahem... for foodie research purposes) and deli. I bought 2 packs of pasta specific to that region and some cantucci (orange and almond biscotti) which i figure I can repack to make into 3 presents. ahahahha... ah kiam little me.

Since today I spent €32 on train, newspaper and food, i decided to treat myself to a hot dinner. A little overpriced for a cafeteria (think food court) but for €7.5 i got a huge plate of tortellini and ravioli. Very filling and I rounded that off with a incredibly rich nutella gelato which was ill-advised. I realised something; gelato prices go up as you go down south. In milan the same scoop cost me 1 euro, which here prices have doubled. I hope they don't go up that much in Rome, otherwise I'll be deprived of my nutritional calcium.

Travelling alone has led me to become very introspective and mildly depressed at times. There's no one who you can depend on or rely on which sucks at times. Sometimes I'm tired of visiting museums and looking at old fusty things or pinching pennies till they squeak. But I can't hang around all day in the hostel(s) because they're even more depressing and boring. I can't give up halfway and go home or even just go back to Amsterdam; that'll just be weak and i'll be really annoyed at myself when I look back and think about it.

Florence --- Argh

today was going to be a good day.

i woke up bright and early, packed and thought i would be right on time for my train. but did things turn out as imagined? of course not. Daylight savings happened yesterday night, which meant that i missed my train; it was actually 730 instead of the 630 i had thought it was. made it to the station, managed to get my ticket swapped and ran to the platform only to have the train door literally slammed shut in my face. red faced and sweaty after my desperate sprint to platform 7, i was so ARGH - for want of a better word. a kind italian asshole explained that i shoulg go back and swap my ticket again. he offered to help me out and absconded with my official ticket leaving me with my replacement ticket. now, that is not a good thing. so now i was stupidly stuck with no ticket, no train and a hell lot of very heavy luggage.

after a lot of begging, pleading and impassioned arm waving, i had no choice but to buy another ticket. my pocket feels emptier by the minute and likewise im sure dad's does as well.

made the 9am train and got into florence in one piece. found the hostel which turns out to be really central except that they refuse to extend my reservation and i'll have to look for another hostel for the 2 additional nights i want to stay here.

bought a mozerella, lettuce and tomato sandwich on the way to the uffizi gallery (the biggest gallery in italy) and it was delicious. except for a couple of lightly soggy bits which i ignored and now wished i didnt. it is now making me feel really nauseous and every thing makes me want to throw up. even walking makes me feel nauseous. so im sitting here writing emails until i feel less sick. what a horrible day.

Torino

the winter olympics ended a while back and today i popped over to torino to check out the place. it was a horrible day. the weather was cold and wet and silly me decided that italy was tropically warm when i woke up this morning. so i didnt bring a thick artic jacket. rather i merrily popped on a cute little cardigan and ran to the train station cos i was late for my train. perfect timing though, hopped on the train 1 min before it pulled away from the station.

froze when i stepped out of the train at torino and realised it was drizzly. ran into the nearest shop (Mango) and bought a sweater (cashmere-silk blend) for extra warmth. didn't help very much although it was nice shopping at 9 am.

i went to the egyptian museum in torino. it's the second best museum in the world for egyptian artifacts, because the first is actually in egypt itself. they had a fantastic exhibition and a whole floor of statues in mirrored halls. beautiful and eerie. best experience ever. have loads of pics on my hp but too lazy tp upload them.

the shroud of turin was pretty much a letdown. they only had a photo of the shroud and that was it. good thing i didn't have to pay for that! (singaporean surfacing) i was freezingly cold because it was raining, but i found a great little cafeteria and had a full lunch for 5 euros. risotto with prawns, salmon with a caper sauce and artichokes stuffed with cheese. yum yum. except it wasnt the best quality but im not complaining... best food i had in ages! followed that up with a bicerin and a cookie. bicerin is a really rich drink with a layer of froth like a latte, except that the layer is cold. i tink what they do is that they froth a mix of cold milk and cream then add it to a mix of cocoa with espresso. so what u get is a really rich, chocolatey drink with bitter undertones from the coffee. the soda water they serve alongside that really helped to cut through the richness that proved cloying at times. Nice drink but not really my type.

i bummed around in a bookshop reading for a bit and met a nice old man around 70 and is studying japanese. that brings me to another pt. everyone in europe tinks all asians are japanese. It was nice having a quick chat with him, which brings me to another point. Europeans are always so beautifully dressed, especially the older Europeans. How lovely.

on the way back to the station, there wwere loads of little stalls selling chocolates. it was the turino ciocolate exhibition!! how good was that? now, i have to mention i'd alredy bought a bottle of gianduja which is gourmet nutella which was invented in turino. yes we must all thank the turinese (hehe) for nutella. and a bar of chocolate which u smash up add hot water and get fabulous hot chocolate. but chocolate fair... must try and buy. so i got a toothpaste style tube of gianduja (emergency rations) and some 99% cocoa lindts which i ahve never seen before and a small bag of lindts truffles for my brother. so ex though. no wonder im running out of cash., europe is not for the poor or faint hearted.

so now im finally back in milan and going to venice tml.

Milan

i went to the duomo today after the daily hassle of hunting down my hostel. That's oe thing I hate about travelling. My backpack is getting really heavy and since its just a nice cheap bag which I got for 30 RM (thanks Dad), it doesn't really have the best back support etc which makes for aching shoulders. I swear, if someone poked me on the forehead while I was carrying my bag, I would just toppled backwards.

Anyway the Duomo was a nice old church which was under renovation or as they say restoration, then i gave up sightseeing and went on my own tour of milan after I couldn't make a reservation to see the Last Supper. lol. went to a few outlet shops with my little outlet map courtesy of the Milan Tourist Information Office. man... they are freaking HUGE!!! i went to one owned by the Max Mara group of shops and picked up a cute sweater and a yummy trenchcoat for 200 euros. ahem.

then the very last one i went to i found a gorgeous sky high pair of miu miu heels!! Red!! so beautiful!!! and i got Jason 2 shirts for 30 euros each. which is pretty reasonable cos one of them is handstitched. (rolls eyes)

anyway my hostel is actually a hotel. its off season now so they rent the rooms out in dorm format. so im sharing with a chinese girl who i met 5 minutes ago. she seems nice though.

tomorrow im going to torino, sounds yummy to me. they have a delicious coffee thingy which im dying to try.

Vienna

i love vienna. its beautiful, clean and modern. what more could a girl want? plus great shopping and oh so convenient.

today i woke up early and trekked across the city to the hofburg palace. its HUGE and so imposing! the palace complex itself is used for ministries, museums etc and its pretty much the size of orchard rd. it was still really early so i went to Cafe Central to get coffee and sachertorte. Cafe Central was where pple like Trotsky and Beethovan hung out.

"A well-known story states that an Austrian politician, asked about the possibility of a revolution in Russia, remarked sarcastically: "Who is going to make a revolution? Perhaps that Trotsky from the Café Central?" "

so its really old, has great charm, good service, a big collection of newspapers (all in german or deutsche or french) and a huge price tag. but i guess it was worth it for the experience, if not for the sachertorte.

I went to watch the Spanish Riding School´s morning exercise. Its supposed to be really famous and they get silly buggers like me who can't afford a performance to pay to watch horses trot around doing warm ups. Which is kinda stupid considering no one can stand to watch a bunch of horses going round and round for 2 whole hrs for 6 euros. So sat for 1 hr thinking that something exciting was going to happen, turned around and asked the usher if the horses were going to perform "perform". Obviously not.

So I galloped myself over to the Imperial Apartments. Fascinating collection of plates, cups, forks, spoons etc from the Imperial Kitchens. snore.

Really enjoyed the tour of the Imperial Apartments though. the Empress Elisabeth was supposed to be a bit whack in the head. Drank meat juice and dieted like crazy. Sounds like a perfectly normal modern woman to me though. Hit the Albertina museum to catch the Mozart exhibition. This yr is 250th anniversary of his death so they have loads of special Mozart-y stuff going on. It was dead boring cos everything was in german though. Then again, every year is always someone else's anniversary. Its either their birthday or anniversary or something or rather. Three cheers to the local tourism board.

vienna was so cold on the second day!! i hope its way warmer in milan. went to a whole bunch of museums today, the schroenbrunn palace, the haus der musik and mozarthaus. saw pple making strudel, the whole place smelt so buttery GOOD!! but poor little me couldnt afford strudel anymore... so i sat outside the palace like a homeless bum and ate bread with blue cheese. good but salty. then i just hit the outdoor markets and bought taramasalata which is really good. its a turkish spread made of fishroe and stuff. sort of like salty fishy yumminess. say it with me, TA-RA-MA-YUMMMMYYY.

got strawberries grown in morocco. think its the season cos there´s loads of them around and for pretty cheap! like 4 sing dollars a kilo now. i guess i can pretty much skip bread and just eat strawberries now... im looking forward to italy cos i promised myself i can eat warm food every 2 days. pasta... drool... pizza.... gelato... lol... i think ive only had like... 2 warm meals since leaving amsterdam. so pathetic!!! i feel grottier and grottier every day. oh well... i dont want to owe my dad too much ... but i splurged today. i didnt walk so much today, i took the subway instd for the princely sum of 10 euros. usually i just wake up earlier and walk all over the city. see how i scrimp and save?? lol. planning to go outlet shopping in milan though. laalaaaa...

LOVE U DAD: U IS THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD.

the haus der musik was pretty cool! tons of interactive exhibits and stuff. u could make yr own cd with farty noises and whatnot.

Budapest

So its my birthday today and I'm wandering around Budapest. Jason's supposed to get in around 11-12 so it'll be nice to have someone around to celebrate my birthday with. Budapest is a growing city; it still has vestiges of its communist past. Buildings are older and unkept compared to Prague. It still has lovely architecture though. I walked around the river towards the market, hoping to get some breakfast. Picked up some yummy little pastries: a couple of bite size pain au chocolat. Funny thing is, they sell pastries by weight here. Seems very fair to me. The produce here looks so rich and fresh compared to the plasticwrapped denizens of the supermarket. Jewel red strawberries at a couple euros a kilo... DROOL. Decided to wait for Jason though.


Wandered down the main shopping district. Signs of modernisation: Louis Vuitton store on corner next to the State Opera House.

Jason took a really long time to arrive. We both decided the hostel was really really bad. By bad I mean, old, cramped and dingy. Also the bunk beds looked like they were nailed out of old wooden crates and swayed precariously when I tried to climb into the upper bunk. The lockers were not much better. The kitchen was small and had that worn linoleum look so beloved of the 1960s. Showering in the bathroom was an adventure in itself. The heater was of the old fashioned variety, banned in Australia for the last 20 or so years. You could literally barbecue while you took a hot shower because the water was heated with an open propane flame. It was a real eye opener.

Cesky Krumlov

this kezboard is weird, z and y are mixed up so bear with this email.

todaz got up waaaz earlz cos i booked a verz pricey tour to ceskz krumlov which is a UNESCO listed town abt 3 hours awaz from prague. the people on the tour were nice although our guide was a old cyech woman with a moustache. lol.

the town itself was beautiful, all soaring castles on a big rock, surrounded bz a river, little houses in baroque, renaissance etc etc stzles. show u the pictures when iu get back. everzthing is closed in winter. i hate winter. tml gog off to budapest as i told dad and hoping to squeeye in bucharest and skiing. im getting prettz used to the cold, doesnt bother me much anzmore. on that same note, i just bought a pair of cheap gloves for 65 crowns which is abt ¨4 sing dollars. i love bargains.

Prague

end of 2nd day in prague and its been utterly beautiful and cold.

snows here on and and off, but lightly so its alright.

on the first day i got off the bus and got lost. its been a recurrent theme in every single city i've been in. hai. anyway i finally found the hostel, dumped my bags and wandered around the city. its fabulous; beautiful churches with towering gothic steeples and very classic baroque architecture. extremely touristy though. for every 1 czech person there were at least 10 tourists. i walked around in the slushy slippery snow along the river towards the Prague Castle. (My trainers has a little hole near my big toe and my toe is getting frostbitten. )

The Charles Bridge was understandably beautiful and was decorated with individual statues of different dead people. (LOL). Got lost again looking for Prague castle and it was nice (note the lack of enthusiasm) but everything was starting to look pretty much the same. So finished Prague castle and tried to walk to the Petrin Tower but... the funicular was CLOSED!!!! argh. crap. not a very exciting day. But saw loads of little kids happily tobaggoning (is that the term?) down the snowy slopes. Looked kinda fun... Plastic frisbee thingys they used looked kinda SMALL too. :)

today was pretty bad too. i met a nice indian girl (actually she's 36 but i tot she was in her twenties) from capetown. she's cool; works as a pediatric physiotherapist. then we went to a town (Kutna Hora) a little bit off frm prague for a visit. and the only attraction i wanted to see was CLOSED. But we visited the ossuary and it was mindboggling. Imagine mountains of bones placed into intricate and macabre patterns.

prague is not good people. i tink its overrated and too touristy. if they had a bus to sarajevo, i would go there instd. tml night heading off to budapest, hope its better than prague.

March 14- Frankfurt

Got into Frankfurt today at an UNGODLY hour after taking the night bus from Amsterdam. It wasn't even 5am! To think I almost missed that silly bus after arriving late at the bus station. Good thing the bus driver was kind enough to wait after I rang them up to say I was running late and begged them to hold the bus 10 minutes for me.

The Frankfurt bus station was outdoor and frrrreeeeezing! Thank god for jason´s extra jacket otherwise... i would be a ice pop. It was really cold even with his ski jacket, my thick woolly jacket, a wool turtleneck and thermals. The bus station was right next to the train station but nothing was open; looked scary and deserted. So i walked across the road and made myself comfy in this small hotel's lobby. good thing the reception guy didn't mind; i suppose i looked really pathetic and harmless. laaalallaa... so at 6 went back to station (didn't want to impose on the nice old man any longer) dumped backpack in locker and had a yummy nut croissant with hot steaming coffee (not as gd as vietnamese ca phe diem though. hai) hung around till the eurolines office opened, booked ticket for tonight to prague, czech republic and decided to walk around city central since had abt 2 hrs before any museums etc opened.

I snagged a map from Tourist Information, walked around financial centre, found the Deutsche Bourse, UBS blah blah blah, found the shopping district (ooohh) and made my way to Main river side. (name of river is MAIN). beautiful gorgeous view of sun rising over river, will upload pictures in 2 weeks.

saw a whole bunch of museums from the outside, lol. then went to the jewish museum. now that was long and tedious and boring. but cheap. 3 euros for the whole museum and i got a lot more information than i ever wanted to know. went and did lunch, really wanted pasta and meat which i saw some pple munching on, but decided on sandwich instd cos it was cheap and could keep half for dinner (see dad???) and i got a tub of quark with cherry confit as well. I still have more than half of sandwich left and untouched quark. me thinks at this rate i can have the rest for brekkie tml. haha.

went to goethe (pronounced gerta) house and museum, it was interesting. all i can is he had a nice house. then i went shopping and bought a nice pair of pants.

this is a pretty long email, as much for my benefit as yours, cos i left my journal back in amsterdam and i want to keep a copy for my records.

oh btw im not going to paris to study already, i think i should just focus on backpacking, cos not much time and even less $ me has.

ok, gtg, bye bye and miss u all. miss chinese food. drool.

8 March - Amsterdam

Arrived in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport bright and early. The air was cool, crisp and fresh after the stuffiness of the plane. Hopped on a cab (think black Mercedes E something) and was very impressed with the GPS system. If I could drive and if I owned a car (both highly unlikely) I would love a GPS system. Ugh, everything was cold and snowy though. Dutch architecture struck me as being very neat and clean. Everything was very box like with huge picture windows. Sort of Scandinavian/Ikea vibe to it. Managed to get to Jason's apt in Amstelveen without any problems and handed over 25 euros to the evil cabbie.

No jet lag, so I bummed around in Amsterdam while Jason slogged at work. Hit the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum for an amazing exhibition on Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Rembrandt's so much softer while Caravaggio's more stark and defined. There's definitely no grey area with him. I think my taste in art is a little weird. I like very defined, almost dramatic art. There's this modern artist I really like although I have no idea what's his name; he draws all his subjects as rotund, almost comic figures.

Anyway I'm just going to bum around Amsterdam till next Monday, then I'm leaving for Frankfurt.

Europe 2006

Left Europe over a month ago; seems like a lifetime since I embarked on that backpacking trip. Europe has always been one of the 'must-sees' in my life, (others would include Africa, India, Egypt, Nepal, Tibet...) and I did manage to see nice chunks of it, keeping the rest for another day, another trip and hopefully a better planned one.

Honestly, I was more than a little leery about starting out on my own. While I have travelled solo before, but never for long extended periods of time. Wandering around Amsterdam in the day is a whole world away from snoring on a bus trundling across Eastern Europe with slightly disreputable men snoozing around you.

But in the end, everything was fantastic. I had a bunch of low points (believe me, there were MANY) and many high points. Europeans were as a whole, warm, generous people who were more than willing to help a dishevelled backpacker who spoke only english, lousy chinese (not that that helped), and pidgin french and italian.

I decided to back post (if there's such a term) about my trip partly cos I was inspired by ZL and Kev who're beginning theirs. Maybe this'll give them something to laugh about when they're feeling grumpy and depressed. :) Most of the upcoming posts will be directly taken from emails I wrote to my parents out of sheer laziness to put pen to paper during my trip and very little editing done, so bear with the bad grammar and gushy writing.

Lurp!