Weekend at Peiyu's

On Timeline: 26-28 Oct 2007

And I shall celebrate the end of lonely travelling!! (oh really? lol. Shall blog on Switzerland later then...this more important.)

Went over to Peiyu's place at Konstanz to meet up with her, after all, she's been in Europe for a slightly longer period of time than me! The city she's staying in, Konstanz, is super near to the Switzerland border! A pretty city with its own Lake Konstanz (yea bigger than the lakes I have here in Eindhoven), it is quite a hassle to reach there as train timings are rather infrequent. But still, I managed to make it there from Munich (Shall blog on Munich later also!!!)

And it was a warm welcome from Peiyu (I've not seen her for 3 months!) and her friend Xiaowen, who was staying over at her place. A warm welcome on a cold day...how fitting.

And I was just in time for some chicken rice! GOSH...I cant believe my eyes...and I really really miss chicken rice (yea, both STEAMED CHICKEN and RICE), so it was a yummylicious meal on a cold night!!

Chicken with broccoli!


I just love the rice cooker!


Tuna pizza!


Okay, the tuna pizza served as a side dish for the chicken rice, and it was simply great to have warm soup on a cold night! I feel like cooking chicken in Eindhoven, after this dish. Inspiration!!!

Anyway, the night was spent clearing up the stuff, settling in (3 ppl in her room!) and planning for the next day's activities. After the long discussion with her friends, we decided to skip Freiburg and Titisee (I've been there before also, maybe that's partly the reason), and head down south to Schaffhausen, where Europe's largest waterfall, Rheinfall, is located.

The next morning, we woke up at 6.30 am (goodness gracious me!) and made our way down to the train station. We were primed for an early morning outing to Schaffhausen, followed by a Stuttgart stay-over after that (PY's friend lives there). However, our plans got derailed (well, literally) due to customs checks at the Schaffhausen border! Gosh! That's the first time I encountered border police and we got 'deported' back to Germany as PY and XW did not bring their passports.

And so...



We quickly went back, got their passports, and went out to the train station again after some planning by PY (with all the bus and train schedules etc). And we were again in time to hop onto the train, but this time, it was a SBB train!


I match the colours!

After getting off at the Schaffhausen station, we wondered whether there was a need to go to the immigration counter, but there were no border police! ARGHHHH. We just went our way, located the tourist information center, and armed with information on the Rheinfalls, off we went!


That's the way to the Rheinfall!


*munching sound heard*


AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!


This is how u propose to a girl?!

The walk to the Rheinfall was nice and scenic, walking along the river Rhein and encountering 'monsters' and looking at the buildings along the river.


Peiyu's gonna jump!


And Xiaowen's caught in the act of helping Peiyu achieve her 'dream'


My hole!


Basically I just stopped the car from coming across :D


River Rhein


National Geographic wannabe


Close-up!


Finally a 自拍 after so many takes!

Of course, we just took pictures along the way, and soon, we heard gushing sounds in the distance, which could only mean...




The Rheinfalls!!!


Rheinfall Panorama


Viewing the falls in its glory


Cookies delight!!! (I love the cookies!)


Me and the Rheinfalls. Check it out!


We look like we're bathing in the Rheinfalls

And of course, we had our food along the lake, admiring the grandeur of the Rheinfalls. And then...we noticed boats ferrying people to the central rock (which had stairs) and we decided to check out the prices for the boat ride to the other side of the lake. And it was kinda cheap, at about 1.80 EUR per pax! Above all, we got to see the Rheinfalls up close and personal! woohoo!


Peiyu and the falls


3 of us and the falls!


Closer view of the central rock, splitting the falls into 2

And the 3 of us were making so much noise on the back of the boat! haha. We just went clicking away, and flashes went non-stop. Gosh. Suddenly, the feeling of travelling alone seemed super lousy, and I really enjoy being in the company of others who just wanna have fun and take loads of pictures!!!

Basically, we took a lot of stupid pictures. :p

After the boat ride ended, we landed ourselves on the opposite side, where there were 2 viewing platforms along the sides of the Rheinfalls, and another above the waterfall!


Rheinfalls!


Flushed away


Help the rocks are falling!


The Rovers connection - Rheinfalls


Higher view of the Rheinfalls

As we got higher up, the view of the falls became much clearer, and we could see the power of the water hitting the bottom. A wonderful sight!

After the waterfall visit, we went out and decided to go to Der Munot as there were no news from her friend on the stayover at Stuttgart. Der Munot's an old fortification with a moat to provide an all-round defense for the city.


Der Munot's up this flight of stairs!


Looking so small...


Der Munot!


Inside Der Munot


Up the spiral staircase!


Der Munot and its cannons


Schaffhausen station. Memories? APLENTY

If I do not recall wrongly, the last trip I had with Peiyu was to Datuk, and this trip is probably the first I had with her for a year! And it was a long time since I tried her cooking...esp. the ROSTI...so here we have it! The rosti for dinner! Peiyu-style that is. haha. She can go open a restaurant liao...


Dinner at Peiyu's place!

And the dinner left everyone feeling full and satisfied. With the intention of having a lazy Sunday the next day, we decided to watch a movie in her room...something like an overnight stay (SG version: stay-over = no need to sleep) And there was the end of the day-light savings which allowed us to sleep an hour more, technically.

But alas, we fell asleep watching the movie halfway. lol.


Breakfast at Konstanz


At Lake Konstanz


Doing an impersonation of the statue


*pinch butt*


Children playing at the city square

Alas, I did not have much time to walk around Konstanz, as I had to take a 8 hour journey back to Eindhoven. And it was kinda weird for the shops to be open on a Sunday! I was informed later that apparently they opened due to the end of DST...hmms. Cannot shop. So sad.

Train ride back was pretty much ok for most of the journey, except the Netherlands-Germany border. The train heading out of Dusseldorf towards Venlo was late, and the train could not proceed on further after Boisheim (still within Germany) because of some problem which they did not explain to us!!! And all the passengers were left high and dry on a cold night in a super ulu train station, with no apparent means to get a taxi or go over to Venlo.


Stuck at Boisheim

As I did not know what the train conductor was saying, I asked this lady Katja for an interpretation. Turns out that she was also in Germany for the weekend, and she's studying in University of Maastricht, doing her law PhD! And she's in a place I wanna go visit!

Luckily, the operator announced that a bus was coming, and that helped. We were sent from Boisheim to Venlo, and I bade farewell to my friend Katja, who had a connecting train to Maastricht, whilst I had to take a bus from Venlo to Horst, and then take a train to Eindhoven.

The total train journey? Almost 10 hours. OMGosh.

Fun weekend, definitely! Everytime I view the food pics, I'm so tempted to eat it again!

Current Mood: Cold cold weather

AC wins!

v
And with that AC's UCL campaign is going on smoothly...good...the 4-1 win over Shakhtar Donetsk was simply fantastic, though it would have been better if they had not conceded the sloppy goal! A poor clearance by Oddo allowed them to claw back 1 goal. But Seedorf (woohoo!) volleys 2 past the keeper, with 1 from each of feet, in the 2nd half.

And Kaka is still the driving force for the Milan attack, Pirlo's the creative spark for set pieces, and Gattuso's the midfield hardman!

I hope Milan goes to the finals this time round! :p

Recession headed our way?

This news article would DEFINITELY prove newsworthy and of note to all of us. Probably the first signs on the slowing of the US economy, and probably will affect many many more nations.

I hope the recession does not come.

Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder

NEW YORK - The calculus of living paycheck to paycheck in America is getting harder. What used to last four days might last half that long now. Pay the gas bill, but skip breakfast. Eat less for lunch so the kids can have a healthy dinner.
ADVERTISEMENT

Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to stretch their dollars to the next payday as they juggle higher rent, food and energy bills. It's starting to affect middle-income working families as well as the poor, and has reached the point of affecting day-to-day calculations of merchants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., 7-Eleven Inc. and Family Dollar Stores Inc.

Food pantries, which distribute foodstuffs to the needy, are reporting severe shortages and reduced government funding at the very time that they are seeing a surge of new people seeking their help.

While economists debate whether the country is headed for a recession, some say the financial stress is already the worst since the last downturn at the start of this decade.

For more, check out the actual article

ERP helps more S'poreans to own cars

If paying multi-million dollar salaries to our ministers is a real shock, well you should just read this article which was published in the Straits Times on 22nd October.

ERP helps more S'poreans to own cars: Minister

Responding to a question for written reply in Parliament on Monday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said this is reflected in the growth of Singapore's car population from 680,000 in 1997 to 800,000 in 2006.

THE use of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) has made it possible for more Singaporeans to own cars.
Responding to a question for written reply in Parliament on Monday, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said this is reflected in the growth of Singapore's car population from 680,000 in 1997 to 800,000 in 2006.

Dr Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC, had asked the Minister if the ERP scheme has met the objectives that it was meant to achieve and if it has improved the traffic flow on expressways especially during peak hours.

In his reply, Mr Lim said since its implementation in 1998, ERP has been effective in maintaining average travel speeds on priced roads within the optimal speed range through regular reviews and rate adjustments. For example, average speeds on the expressways have remained at above 45km/h during peak hours.

"The use of ERP to manage traffic has made it possible for more Singaporeans to own cars than we otherwise could, and our vehicle population has grown from 680,000 in 1997 to 800,000 in 2006," he added.

"It has also allowed the Government to rely more on car usage charges and less on car ownership taxes to manage traffic demand, and as a result, vehicle ownership taxes have been reduced. "

The Ministers said the government will continue with a holistic and integrated approach using all the tools available to keep the roads smooth-flowing. These include building more roads, regulating vehicle growth, implementing traffic engineering solutions, managing traffic demand through ERP and promoting the use of public transport.

Source: ST

Well, if I'm not mistakened, ERP was a "solution" to alleviate the traffic jams during peak hours, and also to deal with the rapid growth of car ownership in Singapore...yet our Minister here is saying that the ERP helps to promote car ownership? I wonder whether he really knew why the ERP was there in the first place.

Gosh. I can't believe that my million-dollar minister is giving such a remark. And ERP aint helping with the traffic condition either. A case of avoiding the bullet???

Really cant believe how am I supposed to pay such a minister such a high salary. If he truly thinks that ERP can help to increase car ownership, why have COE? After all, COE was meant to reduce car ownership in the first place.

Wrong again.
COE + ERP = MORE MONEY!!!! *woohoo*

I think I can run for the minister post next time liao. So easy. Answer such questions just need to smoke out and it's alright. After all, we've the world-ranked 149th newspaper in the world too. LOL.

And just a parting shot, he's a Transport Minister...and com'on, is he doing his job to deal with the traffic problems DAILY?! No, is the answer.





I'm so disillusioned with our country's leaders at times.

Gundam 00

New Gundam series! Called Gundam 00, it's already into 3 episodes, and I feel that it has much to offer. Being in our Gregorian calendar timeline (2307 AD), it is a step away from the other timelines which Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed Destiny offered. In fact, it included most of the current issues and conflicts which are happening in our world today, and throws it 300 years into the future!

Well, I won't go into a recap of what the entire storyline is about, but u can read it off Wikipedia. However, there is a bit of similarity with Gundam Seed (and Destiny), as well as Gundam Wing.

First and foremost, the Gundams are the robots (or tools of war) by Celestial Being (some paramilitary organisation) to rid the world of war (or so they say). And these Gundams as usual have technology which are way advanced and beyond what the world has. With reference to Gundam Wing, it's similar in the sense that the Gundams were used to attack the government, but in Wing the pilots worked independently. Here, they work as a team with a controlling entity.

And there is the SEED feel to it all, admist the mambo-jumbo of the first 3 episodes. Man...gonna watch more before I can give some real info of this new series.

And to top it off, what an interesting article by Darkmirage on Nyoro~n Subs on the translation boo-boos...wait...did I say boo-boos? Or were they more than meets the eye?

Gosh. The translations were totally OFF TRACK and I was really bewildered about the sub, till C&M's one came alone, a day later though. Much better quality and better fansub, definitely!

I'll keep the recent episode by Nyoro~n Subs for laughter.

Current Mood: Busy

Current Music: L'Arc~en~Ciel - DayBreak's Bell