over a weekend, i have been in and out of hong kong... though this was not my first trip, i was all hyped-up last friday and here i am starting to miss milk tea and "yu-tan" (fishball in special curry-cum-chilli sauce) *drool*
21-feb sat morning 4am
*alarm ring* "huh ... have i slept?" apparently so, and cher's family (all of them - mum, dad, sis) will be coming to fetch me in another half an hour. it was an early trip to the airport and the route was clear, i guess everyone mus b feeling kinda sleepy with the peaceful silence in the car.
we reached the airport close to 5am and checked-in shortly. the usual wave-goodbye at the check-in then proceed to change money. the goon-me actually asked for smaller change when the girl at counter was already giving me in 100s HKD denomination = 20 SGD ... so malu (-_-!). next was breakfast at toast-box, it was not fantastic but our minds are not on the food. we were jus overwhelmed with thoughts of wat we can devour for the nex few days - bo-luo bun, che-zai mee, gong-zai mee, wanton-mee, yu-tan, nai-cha *slurp*
21-feb sat noon
yey, we reached hong kong \(^_^)/
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, September 27, 2008
bye bye switzerland
in the next 12 hours i will be flying home. tat ends my 4 weeks - 27 days of adventure here in switzerland. there is lots of mixed feelings, one part of me felt really sad leaving this beautiful place, the other part of me wanted so much to get back to my friends, family and my rabbit ha!
over the last 4 weeks, i have gotten used to getting my own dinner, dinning alone outside, washing my laundry in the washing basin. i have also gotten used to getting early to class every morning on weekdays, having tea and lunches with my best pal here in zurich - michaela and planning my excursion every weekends. by the time i get back to singapore, reckoned i will have to get used to working and of cos the weather. then again, no matther how different, human always have the ability to adapt. the speed of it sometimes surprises me ha ... take for example the rail city architecture, i still recall the first day when i saw it, i looked at it for a long time cos i think it is so pretty. but after 4 weeks here and walking to the station everyday, it jus become part of the daily routine and i no longer stopped to admire its beauty these days. we jus adapt and forgot to appreciate the beauty of stuff around us anymore cos they are so near to us...
no matter how different, how beautiful this place here is, i think it will never felt like home cos all my friends are so faraway. and i really miss those dinners and movies tat i used to have with frens after work. i also missed speaking in mandarin haha i missed my rabbit - mao mao ... so actually, i am glad that i will be home soon.
over the last 4 weeks, i have gotten used to getting my own dinner, dinning alone outside, washing my laundry in the washing basin. i have also gotten used to getting early to class every morning on weekdays, having tea and lunches with my best pal here in zurich - michaela and planning my excursion every weekends. by the time i get back to singapore, reckoned i will have to get used to working and of cos the weather. then again, no matther how different, human always have the ability to adapt. the speed of it sometimes surprises me ha ... take for example the rail city architecture, i still recall the first day when i saw it, i looked at it for a long time cos i think it is so pretty. but after 4 weeks here and walking to the station everyday, it jus become part of the daily routine and i no longer stopped to admire its beauty these days. we jus adapt and forgot to appreciate the beauty of stuff around us anymore cos they are so near to us...
no matter how different, how beautiful this place here is, i think it will never felt like home cos all my friends are so faraway. and i really miss those dinners and movies tat i used to have with frens after work. i also missed speaking in mandarin haha i missed my rabbit - mao mao ... so actually, i am glad that i will be home soon.
Friday, September 26, 2008
yey ... 1st part of exam is finally over
yey, i passed my theory exam 823 out of 1000 ... hope i can get more marks during evaluation hahaha to get the award :-p
but it's not over yet, i still have to keep fighting for round 2 - my practical exam ... i need to stay calm (it's been so long since i felt so stressed-up, fingers are trembling and my stomach felt horrible) ... two and a half more hours to freedom !!!
but it's not over yet, i still have to keep fighting for round 2 - my practical exam ... i need to stay calm (it's been so long since i felt so stressed-up, fingers are trembling and my stomach felt horrible) ... two and a half more hours to freedom !!!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
exam is tomorrow (-_-!)
times certainly flies, this week has been crazy ... everyone in class now is revising wateva they could for the exam tomorrow. very very tense ah, it is very hard!!!
i still have 2 more weeks of stuff to revise until tomorrow morning - 9am.
wish me loads of luck and singapore, i will be home soon.
i still have 2 more weeks of stuff to revise until tomorrow morning - 9am.
wish me loads of luck and singapore, i will be home soon.
Monday, September 22, 2008
i had burger king *yummy*
on my 22th day here in zurich, i decided to try their burger king !!!
i ordered a 6 pcs nuggets with fries take-away. it was so different from those i had in singapore and it's delicious. the potato here always taste better, i wonder why. cow dun make potatoes rite? guess how much it cost me - 10.90 francs !!! fast food is definitely not cheap here.
(despite the price - 3x singapore price, i think i will have to try macdonalds before i leave though ... or should i?)
i ordered a 6 pcs nuggets with fries take-away. it was so different from those i had in singapore and it's delicious. the potato here always taste better, i wonder why. cow dun make potatoes rite? guess how much it cost me - 10.90 francs !!! fast food is definitely not cheap here.
(despite the price - 3x singapore price, i think i will have to try macdonalds before i leave though ... or should i?)
so tat's how a castle looks inside
after all the walking i have done on sat, i must said i felt kinda lazy on sunday. fortunately, i still manage to pull myself out to explore switzerland (though set out kinda late at about 10am or so). i first went to spiez and spent my morning in the castle spiez - i climbed all the way up the tower and from there i could see the entire village of spiez !!! imagine those troops standing guards in the castle back in those days looking out at the sea and monitoring for any invasion from the sea. at certain point of my exploration, i must say it felt kinda eerie walking alone in a castle. i even bumped into some bear skin (the bear head is attached and it mus be real) tat they hang on the wall as decoration, it really scared me then. however, sad to say most of the explanatory notes in the castle is not in english, so i cant really understand the history behind it (reckon i can read more about it on internet when i am done with exam). shortly after the castle tour, i sat down for coffee and biscuit at the castle courtyard hee. u bet it's felt very relaxing sitting there enjoying the view and imagining the life of a royal there and then ...
after spiez, i continue to take a cruise across lake thun that ended at thun. probably after too much travelling for the past weekends, i actually felt kinda sea-sick on the cruise *yuck, lukily i din puke*. at thun i did a lot of walking, i found another amazingly beautiful castle which housed a restaurant - Arts, it reminded me of the disneyland tower. however being alone, i did not venture in for a meal - it looked expensive.
before i call it a day, i dropped by my last stop bern - the capital of switzerland. there are lots of shops here, but unfortunately they are all closed cos it's sunday. it must have been very alive on weekdays with shoppers and the usual buzz of city. then again, its a rare experience to walk along the beautiful streets of the old town without the crowd. i even passed by the einstein house !!! picture this - i actually walked on the street that einstein used to live !!! bern is a beautiful city that offered me something different after my previous adventures with the lakes and mountains. here in bern, i saw nicely done up buildings, clock towers and churches.
i also had my best ever meal in switzerland *thumb up*. i had a proper meal - soup and rosti (yup i know it sounds familiar, i dun wanna give up until i tried the authentic rosti). and i guess i did, the rosti i ordered got swiss sausage, tomato, vegetables and cheese !!! yummy !!! but alas, the portion was too big and i felt so bad wasting a quarter of it. their service is great - very touristy hee with english menu. it was not a cheap meal though 30 francs, but it's been a while since i last pampered my stomach. so remember the name if u ever come to bern - restaurant le mazot, their specialty is cheese fondue.
after dinner, i entertained the thought of staying up later in bern until the lights up at the parliament house ... but i gave up the thought immediately once i stepped out of the restaurant into the cold. so i contented myself with the stuff i had packed in today's agenda and made my way back.
and here goes my last sunday in switzerland *smile*
after spiez, i continue to take a cruise across lake thun that ended at thun. probably after too much travelling for the past weekends, i actually felt kinda sea-sick on the cruise *yuck, lukily i din puke*. at thun i did a lot of walking, i found another amazingly beautiful castle which housed a restaurant - Arts, it reminded me of the disneyland tower. however being alone, i did not venture in for a meal - it looked expensive.
before i call it a day, i dropped by my last stop bern - the capital of switzerland. there are lots of shops here, but unfortunately they are all closed cos it's sunday. it must have been very alive on weekdays with shoppers and the usual buzz of city. then again, its a rare experience to walk along the beautiful streets of the old town without the crowd. i even passed by the einstein house !!! picture this - i actually walked on the street that einstein used to live !!! bern is a beautiful city that offered me something different after my previous adventures with the lakes and mountains. here in bern, i saw nicely done up buildings, clock towers and churches.
i also had my best ever meal in switzerland *thumb up*. i had a proper meal - soup and rosti (yup i know it sounds familiar, i dun wanna give up until i tried the authentic rosti). and i guess i did, the rosti i ordered got swiss sausage, tomato, vegetables and cheese !!! yummy !!! but alas, the portion was too big and i felt so bad wasting a quarter of it. their service is great - very touristy hee with english menu. it was not a cheap meal though 30 francs, but it's been a while since i last pampered my stomach. so remember the name if u ever come to bern - restaurant le mazot, their specialty is cheese fondue.
after dinner, i entertained the thought of staying up later in bern until the lights up at the parliament house ... but i gave up the thought immediately once i stepped out of the restaurant into the cold. so i contented myself with the stuff i had packed in today's agenda and made my way back.
and here goes my last sunday in switzerland *smile*
paris no more... switzerland more more...
my initial plan over the weekend was to go over to paris to take a glimpse at arc de triomphe and the infamous eiffel tower. however due to cheap tickets promotion, all the weekend tickets to paris were fully booked from 2 months ago. i was glad that my colleague here pre-warned me in advance, which is probably why i dun felt so disappointed when i heard the news from the ticket counter. taking it positively, with paris out of the plan, i will be saving 75 eur on the lodgings and ticket reservation. also, i get to go at a slower pace this weekend so that i can be all geared up for exam this friday!!! (yea it's this friday) however, in the end, i still did quite alot in switzerland and ended up coming back only when it's dark.
on saturday, i went to zermatt - matterhorn, a 4hr train ride away from zurich. according to wat i read on internet, the small village zermatt was made famous by a dramatic event that happened in 1865. on tat day, four of seven young men - lead by Englishman Edward Whymper - attempting the ascent of matterhorn lost their lives. zermatt, today is a town built for tourism, there are souvenir shops everywhere. the matterhorn is the key attraction for zermat, a mountain that has inspired the swiss chocolater master for the creation of the toblerone. this mountain made by nature reminded me of a pyramid.
very frankly after being up jungfraujoch, the idea of snow-capped mountain only strike me as cold ... *shiver* nonetheless i still decided to pay this mountain a visit, since it was strongly recommended as a must-see by my colleage. arriving at the highest view point of matterhorn by cable ... i dun jus see snow (like at jungfraujoch). in fact, i can see all the alps around matterhorn and i really felt "high". unfortunately due to the altitude, i felt abit light-headed after a while, so i din really stay at the view point for long (another reason was because my hands were getting numb with the cold). thereafter i went to the glacier palace that turned out kinda disappointing cos it was partially under renovation. i only managed to capture a few snaps and with the lighting, it's not an easy task.
at the peak of matterhorn, there wasnt really much to do especially since i dun know how to ski. so i descended shortly after 30 minutes or so and went to the self-service restaurant (unlike jungfaujouch, matterhorn is not as commercialised so the restaurant was kinda empty). i managed to grab a seat that gave me a perfect view of the beautiful mountain and enjoyed my "meal" - free ovaltine chocolate giveaways with every cable car ticket. after resting my feet for about 10 mins , i decided to move on. the sun at that altitude felt warm and comfy, alot of people were there "sun-bathing". but being me, the consistent paranoid, i worried about the about of damage done on my skin ha!
here comes the highlight of my trip, i had a short hike starting from the mountain cable station - furi as recommended by some internet postings on virtualtourist. the supposedly 30 mins hike, took me one hour at least (probably cos i have shorter legs). when i finally reached zermatt i really felt "leg-soft" (translate to chinese please hee). however, it was a great walk - quiet and beautiful, occasionally i will stop and enjoy the scenery of the surrounding alps. i even walked past gushing mini-waterfall ... hmmm reminded me of my last encounter with waterfall ... once in a while, i will be overtaken by another hiker who will always greet me harlo. people here are really warm yea, so uncommon in asia.
so finally i got back to zermatt town. i decided to visit the matterhorn museum that carry the torn rope of the moutain first ascent. here, i also watched a documentary covering on the life of air zermatt pilots, who fly everyday sending deliveries up the mountain and saving mountaineer stranded up the mountain due to unexpected snow. it's amazing to witness so many climbers attempting to conquer this mountain despite the danger they are putting their lifes in. the news jus reported a climber fell to death off the mountain last weekend O_O. this is common news in zermatt though, there is even a cemetry - home to many graves of unlucky mountaineers who died during their attempts to climb the various mountains.
so there goes my saturday and by the time i got back zurich, it's already close to 11pm.
on saturday, i went to zermatt - matterhorn, a 4hr train ride away from zurich. according to wat i read on internet, the small village zermatt was made famous by a dramatic event that happened in 1865. on tat day, four of seven young men - lead by Englishman Edward Whymper - attempting the ascent of matterhorn lost their lives. zermatt, today is a town built for tourism, there are souvenir shops everywhere. the matterhorn is the key attraction for zermat, a mountain that has inspired the swiss chocolater master for the creation of the toblerone. this mountain made by nature reminded me of a pyramid.
very frankly after being up jungfraujoch, the idea of snow-capped mountain only strike me as cold ... *shiver* nonetheless i still decided to pay this mountain a visit, since it was strongly recommended as a must-see by my colleage. arriving at the highest view point of matterhorn by cable ... i dun jus see snow (like at jungfraujoch). in fact, i can see all the alps around matterhorn and i really felt "high". unfortunately due to the altitude, i felt abit light-headed after a while, so i din really stay at the view point for long (another reason was because my hands were getting numb with the cold). thereafter i went to the glacier palace that turned out kinda disappointing cos it was partially under renovation. i only managed to capture a few snaps and with the lighting, it's not an easy task.
at the peak of matterhorn, there wasnt really much to do especially since i dun know how to ski. so i descended shortly after 30 minutes or so and went to the self-service restaurant (unlike jungfaujouch, matterhorn is not as commercialised so the restaurant was kinda empty). i managed to grab a seat that gave me a perfect view of the beautiful mountain and enjoyed my "meal" - free ovaltine chocolate giveaways with every cable car ticket. after resting my feet for about 10 mins , i decided to move on. the sun at that altitude felt warm and comfy, alot of people were there "sun-bathing". but being me, the consistent paranoid, i worried about the about of damage done on my skin ha!
here comes the highlight of my trip, i had a short hike starting from the mountain cable station - furi as recommended by some internet postings on virtualtourist. the supposedly 30 mins hike, took me one hour at least (probably cos i have shorter legs). when i finally reached zermatt i really felt "leg-soft" (translate to chinese please hee). however, it was a great walk - quiet and beautiful, occasionally i will stop and enjoy the scenery of the surrounding alps. i even walked past gushing mini-waterfall ... hmmm reminded me of my last encounter with waterfall ... once in a while, i will be overtaken by another hiker who will always greet me harlo. people here are really warm yea, so uncommon in asia.
so finally i got back to zermatt town. i decided to visit the matterhorn museum that carry the torn rope of the moutain first ascent. here, i also watched a documentary covering on the life of air zermatt pilots, who fly everyday sending deliveries up the mountain and saving mountaineer stranded up the mountain due to unexpected snow. it's amazing to witness so many climbers attempting to conquer this mountain despite the danger they are putting their lifes in. the news jus reported a climber fell to death off the mountain last weekend O_O. this is common news in zermatt though, there is even a cemetry - home to many graves of unlucky mountaineers who died during their attempts to climb the various mountains.
so there goes my saturday and by the time i got back zurich, it's already close to 11pm.
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