Wednesday, December 26, 2007 .Merry Christmas 2007.
In Chamonix-France now spending a very white christmas with some special people in my life. They are some of my best buddies that make my days in S*U sane. Of course, amidst of all the celebrations, during this festive season, I truly miss my loved ones/friends lots back in Singapore. Hope everyone is doing fine!
Geneva, my last Swiss stop, was really uninteresting and not worth blogging at all. The highlight was our ultra expensive hotel and the 2 chinese meals we had there. Visited the UN house which we took some pictures with the giabroken chairIn Chamonix, our accomodation is really luxurious (expensive as well) and we have been snowboarding for the past 2 days. Learning new ropes can be frustrating and demoralising, but I am glad to have improved at the end of the day.
Yesterday was Christmas Eve and I decided to prepare a sumptuous feast with the help of J, C and H! Ching was the assistant cook and whipped up a really good oglio oglio. haha. For me, I made use of Ching's primataste and cooked sweet and sour prawns, chilli sambal, and nonya chicken and beans. We also bought a whole chicken and some bacon from the supermarket to celebrate CHRISTMASSSSSSSS!
Mum, I hope you are proud of me! My friends really love my dishes. :P
Love all and MERRY CHRISTMAS once again! :)
floated away at
2:27 AM
Sunday, December 23, 2007 .In Geneva Hotel Moderne. In a blink of eye, 1 week has almost passed and I am done with my Switzerland Trip. In Geneva now and will be doing my last bit of Swiss travelling later before heading to Charmonix to meet the guys up to spend Christmas together. Ching and Hilda promised to cook a feast, so I am anticipating the sumptuous christmas meal which we are going to have. yumyum.
Spent 17th and 18th in Zurich, staying in a very comfortable and clean Youth hostel, visiting the Solarium for the 1st time, walking around the town, taking a stroll along the river, ice-skating at Lake Zurich and visited the University of Zurich which was really modern and conducive for studying. What shocked us most was the froken lake which we saw along the way.
We spent 18th, 19th and 20th in Lucern and our hotel was awesome too. Ate some Pizza for dinner and headed back for a early night. Visited Mount Titlus, 3020m from Swiss, on the 2nd day where we had some cheap thrill at the children's wonderland. As it was the first time seeing snow, I was really excited and looking at the Swiss Alps was just so surreal. It feels like I was in another world, above the clouds. Played with snow and J, on a few occasions, actually threw hard-rock ice on me! On the 20th, we visited Mount Pilatus and it wasn't that fantastic. Nice view, and long cable-car ride with nice scenery along the way.... but climbing up to the peak using the frozen steps was no joke. A few occasions when J, C and I nearly slipped, just for the sake of taking some picturique shots. haha. Wanted to do some sledging but decided not to because we didn't wanna get dirty. Headed back to town and took pictures with the famous Chapel Bridge. Sat on a ferry which we regretted deeply. The weather was so foggy that we couldn't really see what was outside. We ended up sleeping throughout the 3 hour boat ride. sigh.
Went Bern at night for a really good dinner. We finally had our cheese fondue and Rosti. The rostis were damn delicious but the cheese fondue wasn't exactly great - too much wine! Bern is just a very vibrant capital with many shops and very quaint buildings. J was commenting how nice Bern would look in the day.
Reached Interlaken late at night and following the directions of the hostel, we actually got lost and went all the way to another town, and what made it worse was that there wasn't any bus services anymore! We were stranded in a damn quiet street but I prayed and thank god the hostel staff actually gave us a lift all the way to the hostel. Fantastic. Another very nice accomodation and the hostel actually had many facilities for a very affordable price. The breakfast provided was really good and we felt so at home!
We stayed in Interlaken from the 20th to the 22nd. The next morning, which is the 21st, we visited the renowned JungFrau mountain, which they claim is the top of Europe one can ever get to. We took a really long ride up to 3500m and we were really amazed by the alps! goodness. It was so beautiful and you can't just believe your eyes sometimes. We went to the plateau to get some pictures and it was so windy that the snow kept getting into our eyes. Managed to do some jumping shots before we head down Jungfrau for lunch. Had a cheap deal as the sausage counter was closing and gave us all the leftover sausages and rosti. We stuffed ourselves with all the food that we decided to skip dinner. Had our welcome drink back in our hostel( Champagne with Orange and Syrup ) which tasted really refreshing. Couldn't help ordering another although it costed 5.50 SFr! :P
And today, we headed up to Wengen for our first skiing class. It was expensive bu t we managed to get used to the ski at the end of the day. J was so enthusiastic that he kept trying all the slopes even nearing closing time. C was progressing quite well too! My knee hurts now and you can see from the photos how shagged I was after the skiing session!
These days, I am getting a little homesick. Miss Singapore food so much and my loved ones back in Singapore. Can't wait to embrace them when I get back. 24 more days.
floated away at
8:46 AM
Thursday, December 20, 2007
.freezing cold.
So far, visited Zurich and Lucern. It has been a wonderful 3 days staying in really good accomodation + travelling with good company. At least I lit up their life. haha.
No falling snow yet, but went up to Mount Titlus today, 3020m up Swiss. Really high and cold, but really had a damn great time there. You know, first time seeing snow... how excited :P
Looking forward to visiting Mount Pilatus tmr, and missing home a lot!
floated away at
5:36 AM
Sunday, December 16, 2007 .switzerland, france & italy.
will be heading to London tomorrow morning, and off to Switzerland for 7 days, France for 6 days and Italy for 8 days before heading back to Bath on the 8th Jan 2008. Gosh, this tiring holiday schedule better be good.
Meanwhile, I am missing everyone back home. Contact me via my SG line if you need to. I will be available.
See ya.
floated away at
7:47 AM
Friday, December 14, 2007 .sumptuous dinner.
i know this is my third time blogging for the day but yeah, a good dinner prepared by me and assisted by the 2 girls. haha. Sue is sick so.. she is excused for the day!
Had roast duck, pork chop, vegetable soup, and cereal prawns. Don't really look presentable but we ate really a lotttt. Quite glad to have Marco and Bonita over (my Psyc groupmates) and caught up a little with them before I leave Bath..
And now, I am going to rush my final assignment so that I can go Bristol tomorrow.
Sign off.
beijing duck. :P
psyc groupmates.
my fridge and the food.
floated away at
5:54 AM
.some photos on my wall.
As photo developing was cheap here, and there were some really errie red stains all over my wall when I first moved in, I decided to paste photos all over to cover the red stains.
And very soon, I will be removing them. Before I do that, a showcase of some photos on my wall! :P
For those who are busy interning/working, take care! Hope everything is going fine for you guys.
an overall view of my wall.
my dearest family.
blood stains behind.
the middle portion.
and.. some photos on the 12/9 and friends, mostly from smu i can see.
floated away at
12:10 AM
Thursday, December 13, 2007 .random// beginning & end of term.
As the term has finally come to an end and I am left with my only one assignment that has a deadline in January, I am so thankful that I have managed to survive and still in one piece.
posing silly shots, having french lessons, cooking and meeting sessions, taking farewell photos etc etc. these are all good memories.
old photos. bristol, cooking, me eating sandwiches for lunch, attending french lessons..
the 3 french students on their last day of lesson.
kathy & jonathan.
a good sunny day
chilling out at porter's bar with michelle feeling down for some reason. haha
Just went clubbing with the girls to celebrate the end of our term, at our fav second bridge with super lousy music. Have been a tough week, thanks to all the last minute preparation ... and we are all so glad we managed to pass all our modules. *phew*
second bridge. we survived!
floated away at
12:02 PM
Wednesday, December 12, 2007 .elephants wearing boots too?.
wth! treasury management oral examination in less than 2 hours time. countdown to freedom!
floated away at
7:36 PM
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 .sitting at one of the beaches.
had my 1st and only employment tribunal today. it was quite exciting yet nerve-wrecking(at first) trying to bring out my points for my claimant. I was still having slight phobia from the brain-freeze the other time round during fiim presentation. haha. luckily, nothing of this sort happened today, but yeah, could have done better and speak even slowly.
While preparing for my speech today, I discovered a really cosy spot in school. I was sitting with Nicola vetting his essay on this beach overlooking the lake and trees with the sun shining directly onto me. As he left, I stayed to rehearse, and it struck me how we tend to get so busy and neglect the beautiful world which God has created. The feeling is just so surreal just looking afar.
duck feeding time! it was kinda hilarious when the duck just walked towards me when I was eating my bread.
floated away at
4:04 AM
Monday, December 10, 2007 .tired.
I have been busy preparing my employment case for tomorrow's tribunal. I am supposed to be the claimant's representation seeking for a claim for unfair dismissal by her employer. So much preparation to do but thank God it will be over tomorrow for this module.
really tiring.
Treasury Management exam on Wednesday and I have NOT started.
Gonner.
floated away at
9:28 AM
Saturday, December 08, 2007 .In Bath this weekend/ Je reste á Bath ce week-end.
J'ai fini mon examen français. Jái trois plus examens. Je reste á la maison cette semaine. Je me sens trés bons. Je veux nager mais le temps est mauvais.
Finally a weekend in Bath. It feels so comfortable staying at home with my books, reading up some articles and enjoying the comfort of my room.
Mum, you will be proud of me. I finally whipped up your speciality-dish " Pork leg beehoon!". Mine still looks really white even though I already used lots of dark sauce :(
Take a look :)
Miss all my loved ones.
LASTLY...
HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY JON & HWA!
Joyeux Anniversaire !
SA gang, have fun celebrating w/o me. Take care bros.
floated away at
9:49 PM
Friday, December 07, 2007 .Barcelona (291107-021207).
Hola!
pictures of random food that we ate for the past 4 days. day 1 lunch beats all.
We eat really well. That's all what I can say. Holiday in Barcelona has been the best I had so far. Really great accomodation thanks to Rita, Stella and Alvin. Sunny Weather that really brightened up all our mood and not forgetting nice buildings/streets and company to spice the whole trip up!
Manage to experience a demonstration of the Catalunya as they were unhappy with how the governement had been treating them.
Love the balcony. Pictures speak a zillion words how much I enjoyed this lovely city.
The balcony at Rita's place. I spent the whole of the last day sun-tanning here while rushing to complete my presentation due the next day. shrucks but it was an enjoyment man.
Day 1: visiting Parc Guell// gingerbreadman house. Nothing fantastic actually. I guess we were tired due to lack of sleep.
Day 1 dinner together @ La Rita: Alvin, Stella, the Danishs Graham and Miriam, Rita, Douglas and the Bathies. Fantastic meal where all the Bathies had cod fish for only 10 euros!
Someone is obviously drunk. drinks at Rita's house after dinner. All of us got quite drunk, thanks to Rita. Felt really bad the next day.
Before Alvin and Stella leave for Marrakech. Taken at their place.
Day 2: Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi - Besides the really gothic building, there's nothing much. A real disappointment when we queued for one hour plus and they told us the lift broke down. Was also suffering from hang-over. Terrible mood. Suck.
Las Ramblas- famous Barcelona shopping street. The girls enjoyed it. J and I actually fell asleep in one of the shopping centre! The port is nice though and we took a really nice picture :) Jay and I didn't shop much, except for some Pull and Bear t-shirts that were really great bargains. Zara had absolutely nothing that's really cheap.
Day 3: Montjuic. Nice scenery and we loved the cable car ride.
Day 3: San Sebastian Beach. Look at our faces and you know how thankful and blessed we were to get sunny weather over in Winter :)
Cheers to Barcelona. Someone is drunk once again.
floated away at
4:39 AM
.Old Trafford, Manchester! Man U 2 Fulham 0.
It's really exciting watching our first and most probably our last live football match in England.. We got the tickets rather late so we were really thankful! J and I took a 4 hour train to meet the poor Ryan at Manchester Picadilly Station which seem to take ages. Manchester is huge and I am amazed by the Man U Megastore. Damn huge but the merchandises are far too over-priced. We went there and there were so many fish and chips shop. Bought a scarf each for 8 pounds and we had to push people away with our big bags. haha. Really glad to see Ryan after so long and yeah, the power of love man. A man who scrimp and save in Singapore but willing to spend $1.6K to fly over to visit his gf!?!? You know, when he was here for the few days, he was not even willing to spend a single pound on food! haha.
The stadium is spectacular but the match was so-so. A little too one-sided but I guess the thrill of hearing all the cheers and being able to be involved in all these make the whole match exciting. Moreover, it's MAN U and not some ulu team. haha. Imagine watching Cristiano being booked by the referee live, AND he is damn innocent this time seriously.
Ryan is really coldddd. Look at the fog on his spectacles.
We spent the night at Manchester train station. I did not manage to catch much sleep because I was busy watching those weird people staring at us.. Walked around the Manchester city area and realise it is quite a shopping haven. Damn excitied and I really want to catch another match soon man.
Took the train next morning and Ryan commented Bath is cui. Wth. Suffering from serious lack of sleep, I dragged myself to French class and did a really horrible job in my speaking assignment. Goodness. Met Ryan after that and catched up with him a little. Oh, and I received this wonderful gift from him on behalf of her. Damn touched seriously.. To all those who contributed, a big thank you.
We had a sumptuous dinner at night because it was SUE's birthday and Ryan's welcome party! haha. We cooked salmon and sambal sotong because these were Sue's favourite dishes. We even had Sagria and a little in house clubbing party after that. haha. Happy Birthday Sue :)
The next day, Ryan left Bath for London. Time flies and wish him a safe journey. He should have reunited with his gf by now. haha.
Yesterday was Christmas Eve and I decided to prepare a sumptuous feast with the help of J, C and H! Ching was the assistant cook and whipped up a really good oglio oglio. haha. For me, I made use of Ching's primataste and cooked sweet and sour prawns, chilli sambal, and nonya chicken and beans. We also bought a whole chicken and some bacon from the supermarket to celebrate CHRISTMASSSSSSSS!
.tired.
