Gosh

Is my personal life dead?

Leaving on a jet plane...

Forgive my rantings below ah...shall stick with the stuff I wanna blog on. haha. It was an eventful trip home, and I think I was totally lucky in many ways!

Was staying over at Aunt Babe's house for the night, and I left early in the morning to rush for the bus to the train station. I was walking along the road and trying to move as far as I can when I saw the bus running towards the bus stop...and moving off without stopping! I frantically waved my hands, in an attempt to catch the driver's attention, but I knew it was kinda futile. Got ready to walk to the train station with all the barang barang I have...Till I saw the driver stop the bus, and open the doors! I was damn lucky! Gosh. I hurried up the bus, dragging my gigantic and heavy suitcase up the steps and thanked the driver profusely.

Next, the train ride to Schiphol was alright, and reaching Schiphol, I had to re-orientate myself to the entire place!

My luggage

Looking at the luggage, it would be probable to think that I can get it all on board the SQ flight bound for Singapore, since SQ gives 40kg luggage weight for students and 20kg for normal passengers. I went up to the counter and gave her my passport and my booking reference. And I placed my bag on the scales, looking nervously as the numbers jumped...10...20...30...40...50...55.

55 kg

I was stunned and I bet the lady at the counter was stunned. She was speechless, I guess. Then she recovered from her stunned expression and told me to go over to the cargo side to see if I can ship things home cos SIA charges 62 Euros per kg of excess baggage.

Went frantically to the cargo booth and the person told me that the luggage would arrive in SG in 1-3 days time and the cost is 146.20 Euros for 20kg!! I can't have the delay in the luggage, and I din want to spend to ship stuff home!

So I went back to the SIA counter and pleaded to see if the lady could do anything...I told her that I do not have the money to pay for the excess. She asked her supervisor for help, and her supervisor was equally stunned, I guess.

Lady: Are you a seafarer?
Me: No..I'm a student
Lady: How long were u here for?
Me: 6 months, and the winter clothes sure is heavy.
Lady: Are u returning to Singapore for good? Not returning here?
Me: Yes!! Finished my exchange
Lady: Just this once, ok?
Me: Yup yup!!

So, in summary, I got 55kg of luggage over to Singapore from Amsterdam, without extra charges.

Normal passenger has 20kg luggage limit
Student = Two normal passengers
Me = THREE normal passengers
Therefore, Me is more than just a normal passenger.

This was my lucky break and I politely thanked the 2 of them for helping me, and rushed off to the immigration control. Gosh. The queue was long, and my boarding time is in 10 mins, so I asked if I could jump the queue.

And I managed to do so. Phew!

Walked briskly to the Boarding Gate, only to realise that it wasn't time to board the plane...just to send your bags to the scanner.

Was seated next to this Burmese seafarer student who was working in Rotterdam for the Rotterdam-Ireland route. He was the same age as me, and his English is pretty developed. I was simply amazed. We talked a bit, but with the newspapers, personal TV and food coming in at regular intervals, it was more of a on-off conversation. Watched 2 movies onboard...shiok!

Then, I decided to get a deck of cards after getting some shut-eye, and asked if he knew what games to play with cards.

And he knows how to play Big2!!! Played a couple of rounds...simply good! And the cards were great. haha...




Ice-cream onboard!

Food on SIA is like that lor, not amazing and nothing super fantastic. And I was wondering where the quality control of the SIA crew went. Sighs. Only one girl out of the whole lot was worth noticing. lol! And that's because I kept seeing flashes coming out from a seat diagonally behind me.

And the guy has a wife next to him. Haha.

But the flight was smooth and in fact I arrived an hour earlier! Must be the favorable wind conditions wanting me to go home ASAP -_-"

Anyway, first thing I got out of the plane was: "Damn, why am I in T2 instead of T3??" Then, I realised that only DEPARTURE flights are from T3, so it does not mean the arrival plane is for the next departure. How happy I was, to envision walking inside a spanking new terminal. Boohoo.

The next thing, I got my stuff and met up with my parents, and stepping out into the open, I was feeling super hot and stuffy! Gosh. Europe weather is super good...will miss it VERY VERY MUCH!

Feeling so surreal...

Had breakfast with parents and my brother, then walked around T3 since we were in the vicinity. Pretty amazing place, as all new Terminals are, and it was very very bright! Gosh. I wonder how much money is poured into it to keep it running at that level!


How may I help u, kind sir?

Unpacked my luggage and had my haircut, which was VERY VERY important as my hair was freaking long! Gosh. Now feeling much cooler and at home. And it was good that the hair was short, 'cos I could get a quick bath and KOed on my bed after replying to some MSNs.

Sleep is good...home is nice...Singapore? Hmm...I shall see how it goes from here on.

I wanna meet up with ALL OF YOU!!!


The mouse meets the snow globes

Current Mood: Tired

Culture shock

I'm back! (feeling narcissistic lol)

Am having another wave of culture shock...this time on my return to Singapore.

Not that I've not come to this island of Singapore before, I've lived here all my life, and yet, when I enter Singapore, I get this funny feeling of going to a totally new place once again...

For example, seeing old uncles and aunties working hard at preparing the airport for yet another new day, for the thousands of passengers passing through not 2, but 3 terminals of Singapore.

And the multi-racial, multi-cultural society of Singapore.

And how this staff from Changi Airport absolutely did not bother to move his hand to replace the fallen trays he had just knocked over...instead he just clutched his foot. I mean, I know your foot is in pain, but at least have the decency to put all the fallen trays back up, right??? I couldn't stand it and I helped replace part of the trays to the stack, thinking he would do so.

Well, he didn't. And the lady next to him stood at the very same location as him, and never bothered to lift a finger even. Too bad, my food came along and I took my food over to my table, but I was curious as to whether SGreans will do something about the mess.

Well, 3 people stood in the vicinity, and none of them bothered. They just left the mess as it was...and 5 mins later the cleaner came by and stacked the trays up.

So what do u lose by doing such a basic 'menial' thing as to stack up the trays u see lying in a mess? And more so if you are the cause of the problem???



Pictures show a dozen words...



Pathetic society.

Flight...

And in 10 hrs time, I'm leaving Europe for the place I've lived for the past 23 years of my life. For 5 whole months, living alone overseas, traveling alone (and at times with friends) around this wonderful and culturally-diverse continent...it was definitely a wonderful experience.

Sitting down at Aunt Babe's house tidying up my packed stuff and packing up the last bits of my luggage. It was difficult to bring my stuff over, but eventually all my stuff started getting into place and it seemed as though I could get EVERYTHING over to SG.

I hope.

The luggage weight is definitely an issue. Hopefully I can stay within the limit and they will allow me through. The stuff in the luggage is another issue. Keeping my fingers crossed for now.

And I'll be touching down in SG on the 19th morning at 0625...well, think I'll just spend the quiet weekend with the family (i think) and see how it goes once I restart my life in Singapore...Heard from Mum that it might be T3 that I am going, and I'm quite excited at landing myself in the newest terminal SG has to offer! Will definitely take more pictures from the Arrivals Hall area!

Going through some pictures now and they really make me wonder if I've spent my time fruitfully here. Of fun and memories...

Hunger strikes Michal, my Czech friend


Clubbing night!


Drinking competition


Paris


With Anthony and Lisheng in Copenhagen!


Pilatus


Even kids trek...do u?


Windmills in Germany


Laserquest in Eindhoven!


Happy note to the police


Doing the lion dance :P


With Peiyu and Xiaowen @ Schaffhausen. Memorable


Weixian and I at Rotterdam. Fuhong took the pic!



The Spain vs Sweden match


Takako - Japanese I met during my trip to Segovia.


La Pedrera's rooftop


Amfiteatre Romà - beautiful and currently under restoration!


The bikers to Belgium!


In the tower of London


Trafalgar Square


Daryl and me in Covent Garden


Ondra, my Czech friend


Wonderful sunset


New Year at Goteborg


Lunch prepared by Ondra's grandmother - simply wonderful!


And me with all my barang barang.

Will definitely miss it all...








Things have changed

Current Mood: Pensive

The land of Port Wine~

Had port wine tasting in 2 of the famous wine cellars in Porto today before hopping over to Lisbon! And I must say the Port wine in Porto (or Oporto) is damn good! Lynn and I woke up early today to try to catch the sunrise, but it was unsuccessful as there were dark clouds, and soon it drizzled.

Still, that did not deter us from taking an early morning walk to the old city and have a look at how Porto comes alive in the morning! Had a mini-breakfast in the local bars before heading up to a nearby Iglesia (cathedral) and then back to the hostel for some good 'ol fashioned cereal and bread for breakfast!

Then after checking out, we headed off to the other side of the river to have a look at the famous wine cellars which dot the entire landscape of Porto. Both of us went into the House of Calem, and the tour was short and informative. However, the best part of the tour was the wine tasting session (definitely!) and I got to try 4 different types of port wine! Got to taste the 10 Yr Tawny, and the 3 different versions of the white wines. Personally, I felt that the middle class of white wine was particular satisfying - not too sweet nor dry! Decided to get that bottle of wine from one of the shops around the city later on after noticing the price.

On top of that, we managed to find ourselves a decent place to have lunch for about 5~7 Euros! Good food, and it was super satisfying. Also met Matt and 2 more people from the hostel in which we are staying!

After the lunch, I went for the Sandeman tour, whilst Lynn went off to find Porto souvenirs and gifts. The Sandeman tour was great but the wine-tasting session was ok, in my opinion. Only had a taste of 2 different Port wines - the white wine and the reserve. However, the Reserve left a great impression on me, and I purchased the Reserve, with a discount since I had attended the tour. Hopefully I can bring it back to SG! A pity I will have to leave the box elsewhere! haiz.

The trip from Porto to Lisbon was ok...slept almost all the way on the train, and the best part of the trip was that I got to know this Dutch guy who was working in Portugal as a teacher doing translation work for Dutch literature for a Portugese university! And he offered to bring us to a street near our hostel, and even paid for the taxi fare! A pity we did not get his name or contact, as he left hurriedly for his appointment. Gosh...free ride!

And the hostel in Lisbon was amazing! There was a supper party and full of Portuguese food on the table, topped off with wine for 2 Euros only! Gosh. Had a great time eating, drinking and interacting with the different people who were at the lounge area. Definitely a great place to relax and to interact.

Gotta go slp...shall post pics tomorrow *hopefully*!

In Porto!

And how I wished the weather would be much better here! Took a total of 6 hours to get to Porto, which is north of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Well, it's supposed to be a nice sunny place to explore, and it's a pity the weather's anything short of being good. Hopefully the weather turns fine the next day.

Stopped over at the island of Mallorca en-route to Porto on my Air Berlin flight. And I think the 2 Air Berlin flights I took were not bad too! Just a bit on the high side I feel. And Mallorca is having such a great weather, and I felt like getting out of the airport and stay for a day there! Gosh.

Having packed my stuff from the Dec trip and gotten out of my flat in Eindhoven, I moved north with my bags of luggage to meet Aunt Babe and Nicole, and they had a guest this weekend - her friend Ross! Therefore, Aunt Babe took Ross around in Amsterdam, Nicole went to her chinese lesson, and I walked around Amsterdam again, this time exploring the Albert Markt as well as parts of the Amstel River.

Got some gifts for some friends, and I hope my luggage weight stays within the limit. Well, hopefully! I've like a kilogram worth of chocolates and a bottle of wine in the luggage already, and I cant stuff anything else inside!!

Amsterdam's weather was bad in the morning, and I just spent my own sweet time walking around, trying to get myself lost in the streets of Amsterdam, and found myself at the main shopping street, with all the sales and what-not.

Most of the stores there had "SALE" written all over their windows...brands like Zara, H&M, C&A, etc etc. So it's a good time to do some winter shopping and I got myself a pair of shoes from Zara for 20 Euros. Cheap...Maybe I will go over to see if H&M has some stuff for me to get, usable in SG of course! Things like tees and belts would prove useful!

Well, meeting up with Lynn who's flying up from Geneve airport tomorrow! And the tour of Portugal shall start! I think I'll start on certain further-off places in Porto tomorrow. Haha...free breakfast at 9am sure restricts my movement times. hehs. But at least I will not get myself stuck in rush hour traffic (or so I hope).

Cant wait to meet up with Lynn! Whee!

Everyday Rob People

Motorists to face five new ERP gantries

MOTORISTS can expect to pay more over the next few months to use the roads when five new ERP gantries are up, many in the heart of residential areas.

The gantries are in Upper Bukit Timah Road (outside Hume Park), Toa Payoh Lorong 6, Upper Boon Keng Road, Kallang Bahru Road and Geylang Bahru Road.

All except the ones in Toa Payoh Lorong 6 and Geylang Bahru Road have been completed.

The Land Transport Authority has not announced when these new gantries will be switched on, but already residents are concerned why their neighbourhoods are targetted.

Commenting on the gantry outside Hume Park, Bukit Timah resident Mr Burven Lee, 43, said: 'The road here does get jammed up. But will a gantry solve the problem?'

'My feeling is that it will just redistribute traffic around,' the director of a statutory board added.

Toa Payoh resident 68-year-old retiree Tony Chan wanted to know why the gantry at Toa Payoh Lorong 6 is sited near the entrance to the residential area.

The LTA spokesman explained that the location of the gantry is unlikely to affect residents as it charges motorists entering into Toa Payoh from Braddell Road who add on to the traffic in the area.

He added that if gantries were at exit points, more Toa Payoh residents would be affected. Also it would plug a gap in series of gantries forming an outer cordon around the city.

The new gantries are part of the LTA's plans to have an 'outer cordon' to control traffic going into the city.

Source: Straits Times

What an idea by our bravo group of intellects...placing more and more gantries instead of doing something to reduce congestion, reduce car ownership, and encouraging more people to take public transport or use other means such as bikes and car pooling!!!

What Singapore really needs is someone in the government who realises the inherent problems and tackle it, not using a simple way of adding more gantries to earn more revenue and 'hopefully' improve the situation?!?!?!

I thought staying in TPY, Kallang and Upp Boon Keng were good choices...apparently not. U can drive out but not drive back home 'cos of the stupid gantries. STUPID...

Maybe I should just save money to get a bicycle. But...riding bicycles in Singapore is another issue altogether, with the type of drivers we have, it's really scary to ride a bike on Singapore roads. So what does this mean for the commuter???








Another reason to want to live and work overseas...it's getting so stupid in SG.

Current Mood: Angry

Down south to Krakow!

Stockholm was snowing yesterday when I left the night train from Storlien. A tiring journey on the train, I must admit. Was in sitting position for the entire journey, and having people talking and laughing loudly till 1am certainly does not help. Moreover, the train keeps making stops every 1.5 hrs, and people getting on and off, making a whole ruckus, sure makes sleeping difficult.

Even if you are armed with eyeshade and earplugs.

Managed to catch a little shuteye in Arlanda airport, but was woken up by the airport staff who were preparing the airport for the day's duties. Had to move over to another couch, and slept for another hour or so, before waking up eventually to wash up, wake Felix up, and moving off to the nearby MacDonalds' to have my breakfast (and hopefully use up the remaining SEK I have with me). Well, for 40 SEK, I must say that the meal was pretty good. Nothing fantastic though, just bacon and egg mcmuffin, with coffee and a cuppa juice, plus a hashbrown.

Met up with 3 Malaysian ladies who were seating behind me, and apparently they were doing some internship in Glasglow, and were on holiday in Sweden, going up north to Kiruna. Brrr....cold.

Checking in at the flyNordic booth was a hassle, I must say. Was really waiting and waiting with the queue hardly moving an inch. Moreover, 2 flights were being handled at the same time, with only 2 queues! On top of that, one of the flights bound for Warsaw was about to leave in 50 minutes, and the queues were increasingly long! Gosh. Luckily they opened another counter and it solved the problem...somewhat.

After that, it was a breeze through the Customs and everything...even had time to rest in the lounge, take out my laptop and furiously type away. Getting on board the plane was fast...but the problem came when we had to wait for about 30 minutes for the luggage to load up (what?!?! Luckily they did not fly off without our luggage!), get the ice removed from the plane, and wash the plane. It was snowing heavily outside...and I guess it was just about full-blown winter for Stockholm.

First off, washing was done by the service crew, first time I've seen such stuff beind done to the exterior of the plane. Apparently it was to remove the ice and snow collected prior to the plane takeoff. The crew sprayed some red liquid on the body of the plane and doused the plane with water thereafter. One could easily hear the scrubbing and other sounds coming from the top of the plane...(and you wonder what they are doing up there!)

After the cleaning up, the ground was full of red liquid, and the plane subsequently taxied off to the runway. On the way, I saw the airport vehicles clearing the snow from the runways, and it was something which I will never see in Singapore (unless winter hits home?!?!?!)

After the plane took off, it encountered turbulence and there were loads of clouds...but after clearing the clouds, it was bright, warm and sunny...a great 2 hour sleep called out to me, which I gratefully accepted. And the next thing I knew, I had landed in Krakow, Poland. A new country awaits!!!

Had to first do a currency exchange, which was relatively easy as the airport had pretty good rates (IMO). Had to get some money to buy the bus ticket to the hostel, so it couldn't be helped.

Me in Krakow!


Cute Sign!

As it was a Sunday, there were lesser public transport available, so I had to wait quite a while for the bus to the hostel. And I was not sure which stop to stop! haha. But after finding the correct roads and my hostel (with the help of my trusty map), settling down in Krakow was pretty easy! The hostel was quite cool looking, but I guess I came during the close season - there were not many people around and it was pretty quiet. Still, I felt it was cheap for the price I paid for - 8 Euros!

After putting down all my stuff, I went off to the old city in search of Kuchnia Staropolska, the famous place with a good menu of Polish and Cracovian food. It was highly recommended by Felix, in fact. And, this will be a BIG tip for you guys...I've put up the picture of the entrance, as it was really really easy to mistake it as 'just another building'. So do look out for the building and door when you visit Krakow!


Kotlet krakowski, ziemniaki, frytki, ryz


The place with good food!

Had a meal of Cracovian style pork chops with potatoes, fries, rice, which really topped my tank and made my day, even with the rain outside. It was so satisfying, and all for just 13 zln! Gosh. Cheap food, good start to the day in Krakow.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the streets of Krakow, and getting myself familiar with the city centre. Went down south to the Krakow castle, and it was beautiful, though my pictures were not, as it was already dark. Walked around slowly and admired the cathedral and the wonderful castle walls, and the ice on the ground had not melted, so it was kinda difficult to walk on the solid ice!

After the castle tour, went up north again to Sukiennice at the city centre. Not just a building containing souvenir shops, it is also an architectural marvel itself. Being in the middle of the Market Square helps, and it is frequently visited by tourists! Anyway, most of the souvenirs can be bought there at relatively cheap prices (Eastern Europe stuff ARE cheap anyway) and it was good to see massive chess pieces on sale! Too bad, din have the money or luggage space to carry them home! *sobs*

After that, I found my way to the main train station, and next to it was a modern shopping mall, which reminded me of Singapore's shopping malls! Inside, it has a wonderful mix of retail stalls, and ice-cream inside is totally cheap at 2zln for a scoop! Gosh! And Zara was having a 70% sale...the whole shop was practically empty le la!

Current Mood:

Current Music:

Skiing in Storlien!

Well first off, you guys must be wondering...where the hell is Storlien?? Well, Storlien is a nice little Swedish village with a charming ski resort, just 3km away from the border with Norway. It is also known for being the winter chalet of the Swedish Royal family. Well, a map proves useful, so here it goes...

Most of the accomodations here are timber framed houses, and luckily, there's a youth hostel in Storvallen, which is about 20mins away from Storlien and the ski slopes. According to the STF personnel (they double up as the tourist agency people as well), there are just 90 people who live in Storlien...the young will stay here and the older folks usually move down south as the Swedish health-care system cannot get access to Storlien easily (well it's provided for, by the government). However, there are many cabins and houses around, and most of them are winter chalets, and many of them are owned by the Norwegians. Apparently the Norwegians are rich (which is kinda true seeing that they are one of the top 5 most expensive places to stay in) and therefore decided to splurge on houses just across the border for the pristine ski slopes.

Well, skiing in Storlien is relatively cheap as compared to the rest of Sweden, and Scandinavia! For a 3d pass and rental of ski equipment (including helmet), it cost each of us about 1200 SEK, and there's even a ski school here! Ski lessons cost each of us 290 SEK for an hour's teaching, as we were not in a group. But the 1 hr was good enough, as we learnt the basics of skiing, namely, how to stop and turn. That, I felt, was the most essential, and the morning prior to the ski class I had fell a lot of times cos I did not know how to brake effectively! After that...haha...

Had lots of fun with skiing, and suddenly, 3 days of skiing seemed not enough. In fact, I have come to love Europe, and I would DEFINITELY wanna stay here...and ski some more, and work, and meet new people...anyone planning a ski trip next time round, do let me know!!!


Frozen doors of the train


Storlien sunrise


Good morning Storlien!


Reindeer celebrating Xmas!




Succeeded in Jungfraujoch, succeeded again!


Early morning to the Kindergarten


Contemplation


Ready to ski!


Lunch break!


Storlien slopes


View from the top of the slope!


Food! (too much carbo)

And of course...a video of me skiing down the slope! (not the best but...I'm learning!)

Can't believe I'm leaving this place soon...last night here, and still no auroras! Sad...But I'm more than satisfied with my skiing progress. Definitely.

Current Mood: Happy!