i have a blog @_@

wow just by a couple of clicks ... i now have a blog.

i can never imagine myself starting a blog like this. i am not really the kind who is good at putting my thoughts in words. in fact, some years back i did attempt to create one (during those days, everyone goes around asking "so u have a blog?") . my attempt then was fruitless, i sat for almost 30 minutes in front of my laptop and ... i cant even think of a title for my blog.

so wat has changed? well, it might be because i am now all alone in zurich with nothing betta to do. but most of it, i think it is rare experience to be "thrown" into this foreign land and to be living here for a month with no actual connections (other then in the virtual world) with friends, families, colleagues. so to keep as much as every memories of this experience, i decided to jot it down.

it´s day number 5 since i set foot on europe-switzerland-zurich, so i have quite alot to cover:

31-aug-08 (sun) 630pm
getting all ready to fly on business class swiss air in the next 2 hours. super excited cos i have never been on a business flight before and of cos never been to the airline lounge (din even know there is such a place in the airport).

lq and jt came all the way to send me off and i have to admit that i felt kinda "emotional" when i start waving goodbye after the check-in point. it suddenly occurs to me then tat i will be leaving folks that i m familiar with, frens whom i can talk and complain freely about anything under the sun without feeling self conscious. luckily i will only be away for a month ha.

flight was good with plenty of leg space to have a good sleep. this longhaul flight is so much more bearable compared to my previous flight to seattle. screen for video is super-big and guess wat, i dun even know where it is located initially (so i was reading for the first 1 hour or so of my flight)

1-Sep-08 (mon) 1st day in switzerland and 1st day at academy
hmmmm how should i get to the hotel? luckily i manage to locate the hotelbus 'Ben Bus' (with the help of information counter and abit of maze-walking), the driver (wonder if his name is ben) is a bald guy who look kinda fierce, but is actually very helpful with my luggage. so for 25 francs, i found Hotel Rex!

hotel room is good, seems like it is meant for 2pax. i did not take long to settle in and was all ready for the next big challenge which is to reach the academy for class at 130pm (bear in mind that my flight arrived onli at 615am). unfortunately, this time round, the maze walking brings me to no-where. i first had a warm up round walking up and down the street along my hotel, after feeling completely clueless i decided to go back to hotel and check with the hotel receptionist. she is very friendly, speaks ok english and start giving me tram guides to the train station that i wanted to go. so after listening to her direction, i venture out again feeling erh 50% sure of where i should head. and ... walah, i found the tram stop but which side of the road should i board?

here i like to pay tributes to these strangers who have made great effort to offer me help:

1. a middle aged lady in 40s who point to me the side of road that i should be boarding the tram. though she next tried very hard to tell me which stop i should be getting off, the attempt was fruitless cos wat came out of her mouth was just a series of german words that i cant understand. she struggled hard with english, but after a while she reckoned i cant make sense of wat she is saying. we ended the conversation with she laughing it off and giving me a soft tap on my arm and me waving goodbye to her.

2. an "ah-lian" sitting and smoking at the tram stop looking kinda solemn and glum. i din intend to ask her initially, but was left with no choice as she was the only one there after the tram left. she turn out to be very friendly and helpful, giving me directions on which stop to alight and how to purchase the ticket from the vending machine (as usual everything is in german). though her english is no better, but in the end we managed with sign language like pointing on the tram schedule map, showing me her half price privilege card (which of cos i dun have). after i board the tram, she even waved goodbye.

3. a plump businessman who speaks good english and provides good direction for me to get to the academy from silhcity. he even reminded me to be careful which train gate i should be going to and to be mindful of the direction i should be heading.

so kudos to the above helpful folks, if not for u guys, i will not have made it!!!

2-Sep-08 to 5-Sep-08 (tue - fri)

getting around zurich becomes easier for the rest of the week. however the training get tougher and as i met more people in the company, i get more overwhelmed with the people i am getting to know and the materials i m expected to deliver. some key events:

on wednesday, i manage to walk down the lake zurich and along the main tourist sights like st. peter kirche, fraumunster, grossmunster. it get so windy and imagine this, i could actually felt myself been blown away ... all in all, its a good day cos i found spaghetti factory and ate my first pasta here (fireball - aglio olio style with red chillli, yummy)



(left) view along lake zurich - church and clock towers are very common landmarks










(right) zurich main train station

on friday, i shifted to a new hotel - Hotel Leoneck. the new hotel is jus down the hill nearer to the central tram stop. this means i am closer to town *grin*. the new room is for single, but it is definitely bigger and more comfy then the previous.

this hotel has more character, with cow decorations everywhere, even the room keychain is a big wooden plank in the shape of a cow! ... and there is a free toberone chocolate chip provided everyday heehee