mission days

-edit-
this is actually an entry from august 5th this year, but i forgot to post it!

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Last year during Christmas time, a team of 7 from CPC including myself went on a STM to BaoShan, Taiwan, where we helped out at this local church as well as taught in a high school for juvenile delinquents. Since today is the last Sunday I would be spending in Taiwan, I decided to visit those people I met during the STM and see how they are doing. BaoShan is a hour train ride away from Taipei, but to make it to their 9am service, I actually had to wake up at 5:30 in order to get there in time (including time taking MRT to the train station etc.) I made my way to the train station half awake, until a stranger really woke me up. Basically I was waiting for train while kind of dozing off when this 40 y.o lady dressed in bright purple legging with a pair of white shorts came and started talking to me like I'm her best friend. She told me that I had the words "I want to sleep" all over my face. I thought she was just being friendly, so I just smiled politely at her. I must've dozed off again but the next second I found her shouting at me loudly with her face right in front of mine (like 1 cm away)! She seriously freaked me out and I literally jumped off the seat (thankfully the train had just arrived...)

Ok, so it was so nice to catch up with some of the people I grew so close to last December. I can't believe all the little kids still remembered us and warmed up to me within minutes. The church recently moved to a different location however almost all the same people still attend the service. It is again strange to get used to a congregation of only ~10 members! I spent most of the time with the kids and a missionary couple from Singapore there. I once again saw how different my life is compared to theirs...

What stood out to me was this 17 y.o girl who has to look after her young brother and sister all the time because their mother (unemployed single parent) is out all day long. I asked the girl where her mum goes each day and she hesistated to tell me so I asked her whether her mum has a boyfriend and she said yes. Her little siblings' clothes look as if they havent been washed for 6 months and because they eat all the lollies they want, they have so many untreated cavities. It is really sad to see how there are kids who are without parental guidance and are insecure about themselves...I pray that they will grow close to their Heavenly Father and know of His unconditional love.

Last post from Europe

I am now at Amsterdam International Airport heading to Taiwan :) I managed to check in 3 hours prior to departure and now am bumming around trying to take my mind of my abused limbs. I have never felt SO itchy in my life before, and those bed bugs bites have kept me awake in the past couple of days thus I am feeling pretty run down right now. When I woke up one morning to find one arm covered with 30 bites, I felt so disgusted and when I showed the hostel people the bites on my arms, they immediately refunded my money. Yup, it is quite a sight, and perhaps it's good that they didn't see the state of my legs. So now with over 20 hours of flight ahead of me (I think...as I'm stopping over at Bangkok), I'm going to try keep myself busy...and not scratch otherwise the person sitting next to me will think I have some contagious skin disease. ARGHHHHHH...

Ok, goign to find a book to read now...

Will update more about Amsterdam when I'm in Taiwan!

BYE for now!

I AMsterdam

Which way do I go?!?

LOL :P saw this sign near my hostel tonight...

I am now at my final destination in Europe :) It is somewhat a sense of relief, that I will no longer have to drag my super heavy luggage around anymore after this... ahhhh...home is so close!

So I haven't really the opportunity yet to explore Amsterdam having arrived at around 5pm. At the reception of my hostel (Flying Pig), there is this common area where everyone sits together (kind of like sitting on a square tatami bed), smoking pots/weed/hash (I've only heard of such thing as hash today). Oh, and apparently mushroom is not allowed in the hostel...like I would know the difference...:p It was quite eye-opening...not to mention this hostel is not too far away from the red ligh district (prostitution is legal here!) I got to walk around the hostel tonight as I needed to get something to eat...and saw so many "coffee shops" one after another, and almost walked into one thinking it was a cafe! It was quite a scary experience being out there alone and also wearing my thongs (flip flops for non-Aussies) in the 5C weather is not fun! (my only pair of shoes is still saoking wet from walking in the rain for 5 hours yesterday in Luxembourg.)

I also came across a whole lot of souvenir stores selling the stereotypical Dutch items such as clogs and wooden tulips. I can't wait to see and explore another side of Amsterdam tomorrow...the artsy fartsy part of it - the floating flower market, Van Gogh musuem, the colourful houses, Rijksmusuem, the parks...and people watching in the quaint cafes...

Alright, I better plan my schedule for tomorrow...

I'm a bit anxious about meeting my roommates, I hope they won't come in all high and drugged!

luxembourg in the rain

Sleeping time now, update later when I get to Amsterdam....

final week tentative itinerary

Brussels really is an underrated city - the fine cuisines and the friendly people really make me fall in love with this city! :) I wish I could go out and explore the city a bit more, however it is freezing cold outside (colder than Sydney winter) and I do not have a jacket to keep me warm. Today, it was great to have Christine, who's a local, showing me around Brussels. She took me to the list of chocolate stores that I had written down (from my research on the best chocolatiers) and then we went to see the peeing boy (Mannekis-pis) as well as the less famous, peeing girl.
However, by lunch time, I felt my muscles ache and a sore throat developing... >< So I retired back to my temporary home (the bunk bed) and swallowed a panadol. Hopefully I will be better by tomorrow.

26th Oct - Bruges
27th Oct - Bruges
28th Oct - Ghent and then back to Brussels
29th Oct - Day trip to Luxembourg
30th Oct - Train to Amsterdam
31st - 1st Oct - Amsterdam
2nd Oct - Au revoir Europe!!

random pics

The Amphitheatre aka Colosseum!

On a bridge in Florence

hola! bonjour!

Yesterday, my camera was stolen without my knowledge of the theft taking place! Thankfully it was returned to me at the end (since I wasn't aware that it was stolen, it was a nice surprise!).

So what happened exactly? I was in an outdoor churros cafe in Madrid (deep fried dough dipped in hot chocolate sauce...hmmmm) with Anna-Marie (from Finland) and we were deep in conversation about something (I can't remember what though) when 2 gypsy kids (one boy and one girl) came over to our table. The boy was holding a piece of newspaper and I think he pretended to be a handicap and kept pointing at some random stuff on the newspaper for me to read. I was confused and so we ignored them, and then he pointed at my churros so I concluded that maybe they are here for the food coz they're hungry. We shook at our at them and they left. Twenty seconds later, a man came up to my table and handed me my camera!! HUH?!?! How did he get it?!

What happened was, while the little boy distracted me with the newspaper, the girl next to him took my camera which I put on the table next to my churros. He used the newspaper to cover up the camera so I wouldn't see the girl taking it, however that Spanish man was sitting opposite us and I guess he witnessed the event and ran after the kids when they left to get my camera back!

Phhheewww, most of my photos from Barcelona are still in the memory card as I still haven't the time to burn them onto my CD. I'm so grateful as I was extremely close to losing my camera and it would totally dampen the rest of my holiday...I can't imagine traveling without my "memory keeper". It actually took me a 10 minutes to realize what really happened and then I walked to the Spanish man's table and told him that he saved my day!

So now, I am in Brussles...waffle-land now! Since my last entry, I've been in Italy (Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre, Sorrento, Milan and Venice) and Spain (Barcelona and Madrid). I'm not particularly impressed with Italy despite the great gelatos I've had! Barcelona had been wonderful so I ended up staying there for just over a week.

I still have around a week in Europe....so basically my Euro trip has come to an end now! I still haven't planned for the rest of the week so I think I should do that now.

i'm lovin' it...because i'm using free wireless at maccas

Little town, it's a quiet village
Every day like the one before
Little town full of little people
Waking up to say...

Bonjour x4

There goes the baker with his tray, like always
The same old bread and rolls to sell
Every morning just the same
Since the morning that we came
To this poor provincial town....

Ok, so I was strolling down the streets of Rennes on a Saturday morning, and for some reasons the opening song from Beauty and the Beast started playing in my head. Then, I realised that the town fits the song perfectly (except I'm not sure about the town being poor)!

Rennes is the capital of Brittany and is known for its beautiful traditional timber frame houses. Every Saturday, they host one of the biggest outdoor markets in France! What great timing as I had just arrived in Rennes from the 9am train ride from St. Malo! :) The towns people, with baguette on one hand and a bunch of flowers on the other, strolled along the market stocking up on their weekly veges and fruits. Being so fruit deficient for the past few days (I'm on a crepes and cheese diet) I picked up some figs and clemetines on the way. I also picked an apple and when I gave it to the stall owner to weigh, he said "UNE pomme?????..." and gave it back to me while continuing on in French. Since I did not understand a word, I was confused and thought he didn't want to sell only one apple. But then he was smiling at me so I assumed its for free. French people in small towns are so much nicer than the Parisiennes!

A girl from the hostels informed me that this month, the photographer Steve McCurry has an exhibition at the town square and that I should check it out. I guess he is better known for his photo for National Geographic of the Afghanistan girl with green eyes! So I headed to the square to look at the 40 photos on display, then went to grab galettes and crepes from a creperie as recommended by a local. Next stop was Parc Thabor because according to WikiTravel, it is a really nice park that is worth seeing! With shopping and museums visits, I am totally fine being by myself. But when it comes to walking in parks, it felt really strange being there alone and so I just quickly made my way through the rose bushes and the canary and left the park.

Well, now I am back in Paris and since this is my last afternoon here, I tried to take in the culture one last time by sitting in a cafe and watch people go by. It wasn't that great though because people were smokes all around me and smokers aren't exactly my favourite people in the world.

Alright, will talk to you when I am in pasta-land!

things that made me smile

After I returned from Mont Saint Michel at 6pm today, I decided to walk to the Old Town again to grab dinner (what else but crepes?) and enjoy the walk on the beach on the way. It was the most amazing walk and I almost wished that it would never end because every few minutes you find yourself with a completely different view of the sea and sky.


During that 40 minutes walk, I saw many different scenes. And what made me smile:

-The old ladies sitting at the bench gossiping (well it seems!) with their friends. They wore really cute head warmers!
-Young and old couples holding hands strolling along so casually
-Families with young kids running around with their colourful kites
-This dog-loving French holding up his dog and kissing it like a baby
-A toddler learning how to walk to her mother on the beach
-Fishermen with fishing poles waiting so patiently
-The ever changing pattern and colour of the clouds
-The sun setting and reminding me that "this is the day that the Lord has made...let us rejoice and be glad in it".

Rennes is coming up tomorrow! Gotta go to bed as early train to catch tomorrow.

a little town of st. malo...

Salut!

This morning I took the TGV train to arrive at this small town west of Paris in the Normandy region! This town is surrounded by the ocean thus it is also well known for its sandy beaches! I was actually looking forward to a relaxing day lying on the beach especially after spending the most hectic week in Paris running round the museums and climbing up sky high cathedrals. However, it turned out to be one of the coldest days and I was almost blown away by the strong wind at the seaside! The views were still amazing tho despite the thick clouds and I noticed that there are not a lot of foreign tourists here but most of the visitors are from other parts of France.

From my hostel to the main town (Old Town Square) it takes 40 minutes walk along the beach! It really was depressing walking by myself in the cold with no one to talk to. But I got over it when I arrived at the quaintest town that is filled with creperies (Brittany is well known for their crepes), souvenir shops and restaurants. There aren't a lot to do here except walking around and enjoying the atmosphere!

The hostel I am staying at is Auberge de Jeunesse It is dirt cheap here. At 16 euros a night, you get free breakfast as well! :)

Ok, really need to get going. Will finish the rest of the post tomorrow if I get back from Mont St. Michel early!

Au revoir!

RATATOUILLE

Watching Ratatouille in Paris is tres cool...

Christelle and I went on Sunday night to the movies for 4 euros each! So cheap! We both enjoyed it so much and I'm looking forward to get the DVD when it comes out! I am also looking for a restaurant (hopefully rat-free) in Paris that sells ratatouille just like the one in the movie :)

So much to update on about the past few days yet so little time...there are emails to reply (so behind!) and gotta do some research for Thursday as I am leaving Paris for St. Malo -> Mont Saint Michel -> Rennes -> Paris.

Today has been a long one for me, as I went to Versailles in the morning to see the chateaux and Marie Antoinette's estate! Si jolie! It was fully packed there by 10am and I could hardly see anything or take any good photos in the King and Queen's chambers because there were tourists by the bus loads everywhere! However, I loved the gardens and wished I had spent more time there relaxing instead of running around trying to see everything!

As I have been drinking a lot of tap water in Paris, I decided to stop by the Les egouts de Paris (Paris sewer museum) after Versailles to figure out exactly how they filter and purify the water!
I only spent 15 minutes there as it really smells in the underground sewage areas!

Then onto Arc de triomphe for the 3rd time. This is the first time that I climbed up the monument tho! It was awesome seeing all the arrondisments in Paris and identifying the places that I had been to in the past few days from above!

It started raining by the time I got to Notre Dame at 5pm. I still managed to climb up the cathedral to get some great shots of the city under thick clouds! By then, I was so exhausted that my legs were numb and the only things on my mind were croissants and bed.

Yesterday was a rather interesting day....(actually everyday in Paris has been exciting in different ways). I had my portrait drawn at Montmatre (this lady kept following me and said she wanted to draw me so I gave in). She originally said 60 euros and somehow we agreed in 8 euros afterwards. I still don't know whether that's overly expensive or cheap....
When I saw the result, I exclaimed "Ce n'est pas moi!" (it's not me!)....it does not resemble me at all as I know I look very different to that the last time I checked myself in the mirror. The lady kept explaining to me that I have to understand that "Ce n'est pas un photo...it's a cartoon..."

So here it is!




I sent this pic to someone yesterday, and today I got this in reply:

hahahahahahaha X 100....
that sooooooooooooo doesn't look like you... that person must need glasses...

Oh wells....

Tomorrow is last day in Paris...I'm going to this cooking demonstration at Le Cordon Bleu!! :D

Ou la la

-Day One-

Before I came to Paris, I didn't want to arrive with any expectations because there are people I know came with such high hopes for this city and return disappointed or with terrible experiences to share. I have to say that Paris is the only city that I've visited so far that looked and feel exactly as I have imagined in my mind for so long. To me, it seems like everywhere I go, the grandiose architectures make me feel like I am in a movie set!

Not all my encounters are perfect but I love the cobblestoned alleys hidden between landmarks all over the city and how getting lost in this city is such a pleasure because you discover exciting places hidden everywhere (for me, these are usually places related to food)!

I ate 3 croissants today and they melted in my mouth. I went to the patisserie as recommended by Christelle this morning and when I walked in, I felt like I was in the bakery of my dream. There wasn't one thing in there that I wasn't crazy about trying so I just ended up standing there and convincing myself that since this is my first day, I am allowed to indulge in as much of those little delights as possible....YUMMMMMMM!


I found out today why French women are so slim. At breakfast today, Christelle asked me if I wanted to have bread and I said yes. I went into the kitchen to see one tiny piece of toast that is 1/4 of the size of the typical slice back home! It's like a miniature sized toast that I could put into my mouth easily!

Ok, I'm terribly tired right now as it is after midnight and I need to get enough rest for a big day ahead of me tmr, so I will just jot down whatever it is that I can r emember from today.

-The 3.5 hours tour this morning was great...gave me an overview of the city and what I'd like to visit for the rest of the week.
-Met Alicia (Toronto) during the tour and for the rest of the day we bummed around at Gare de Nord and had cakes (today's her 26th birthday!)
-Montmatre is the quaintest area I've ever been to...it is the place where lots of scenes from Amelie was filmed! (i.e. the fruit shop, the cafe where she worked etc)

I wish I could post photos but the internet is slow (stolen wireless connection..heh) so I'll leave that for another day.

Oh, today I was finally speaking French to the French! However, there was this encounter when I was ordering something in French and the lady replied in English!!! GRRRR!!! I must've spoken with terrible accent....

I am going to have a picnic tmr in front of the Eiffel tower...hopefully it won't rain. It's been terribly cold and so I've been wearing the same jacket everyday as that is the only warm top I have...need to do some shopping at H&M!

paris je t'aime

Bonjour!!

I feel weird writing from Paris! This is afterall the place that I've been dreaming about since those year 9 French classes from the high school days! I actually almost laughed out loud when I arrived in Paris tonight at the train station...because it feels all too surreal! However I am not too fond of my first experience in Paris...when I got stuck between the turnstile and this electric flap at the metro and someone had to help me call the guards to release me and my luggage. It was rather embarassing.

So the past few days have been rather exhausting! Diana and I rent another car in Munich (a Volkswagen Golf!) and drove to Neuschwanstein and all the way up to Frankfurt along the famous Romantic Road! It was a 8+ hours drive and we were completely worn out after the road drive and last night we just collapsed in our hotel! You may be wondering why I would be tired even though I did none of the driving. I have to say navigating is harder than driving itself. Having no maps and no basic German reading skills basically means that I had to pretty much had to guess which ways to turn and which highways to go on. Me with my "excellent" sense of direction got us lost a couple of times :p The most beautiful drive during the trip was in Austria for sure.

Anyways, I am now in the 13th arrondisment (district) in Paris, which is also known as the Chinatown! However, it doesn't have the same feel of it as the Chinatown in Sydney or SF...I need to check it out more in the daytime in the next few days...as I am so craving for any Chinese food! Haven't had any rice for at least 2 months and have been having bread or sandwiches for 3 meals a day! Carb overload!

Christelle is the French girl whom I'm staying with while in Paris. She lives in an one bedroom apartment by herself in Paris so I am basically crashing at her living room right now. She's the sweetest girl and I met her when I was on exchange in the US (however, I don't recall ever talking to her when I was there!)

Anyways, off to bed and looking forward to a day full of francaise tmr!

road trip baby!

y = z
z = y

ok, so i will explain whz i am sitting in front of the computer at 1am. first of all, because there are still 30 minutes of credit on this computer that ive paid for. second of all, i cant seem to sleep after one of the longest and most tiring daz of mz entire trip.

reallz earlz this morning, me and diana (a melbourne girl) took 2 barcelona girls we met in the hostel in salyburg to Puch (apparentlz a college town here salyburg) in our Panda Fiat....zes, we rent a car the night before so we could go driving around in Austria. what was supposed to be a 30 mins drive took us close to 2 hours, as we got terriblz lost on the highwazs.
then after we dropped them off, we began our daz trip to Zell am See, which is supposed to be one of the nicest little town (non-touristz too!) in Austria. we got there just after lunch (i think we got lost several times too) and walked around the most scenic and beautiful town for about an hour...the water and the mountains are unlike anz ive seen in mz life!! zes its that good!
then we began our 2nd part of the daz trip to innsbruck! that was supposed to take an hour, but we got there 3 hours later... the problem was, we had to return the car bz 5:30pm, but it was alreadz 4 something when we left innsbruck and being stuck in traffic on highwaz on the waz back doesnt help! it was reallz frustrating in a waz!
bz the time we returned to salyburg it was after 8pm, and so we book on a night train to munich...bz then, i was exhausted bezond anzthing...we got to munich main station at almost 11pm. the storz doesnt end here. when we got to the hostel, we foudn out it was fullz booked for the night (zes, need to learn to plan ahead more and be less spontaneous). however thez todl us there are still spare beds but we gotta wait till 12am just to make sure the ppl who reserved those beds dont show up. in that mean time, i walked down the streets of munich going from one hotel-hostel to the next, asking for rooms and rates. thez were all either too expensive or booked out. boz, was it scarz to be out at night....worse was having to check out seedz hotels (this guz showed me this room up in the attic and i reallz thought he was gonna lock me in there)
sometimes i wonder what i am doing here....haha
anzwazs, so on sundaz, we going driving up the 'romantic road', all the waz from munich to frankfurt....its supposed to be a lovelz drive...i shoudl be excited, but for now, i feel like the room is spinning and i am reallz in need of sleep. however, there are still 20 mins of credit left. i think i am just gonna leave it at that eh?

one month too early for oktoberfest!

Wow, what do you do in a city which offers 1500 different types of beer?

I just ordered a glass of white wine instead! (it was a free voucher for beer or wine :) )

I cannot even begin to imagine what this city 'of monk' will be like next month, when the city will be visited by over 6 millions visitors from all over the world! I'll be definitely out of here by then!

It occured to me that i've been pretty bad at keeping this journal updated. I still havent posted about my trip in Taiwan and that was almost 2 months ago?

So it was a loooong 7-8 hours on the train yesterday to Munich. I wish I had been more organised with my trip as that would safe me a lot more money. As I only booked 15 mins before the train departure, it costed me 105 euros to get here!! :(
Anyways, I was really freaking out last night because by the time I got to the central station here, it was around 8:30pm so it was dark by then. I really struggled to find the hostel while carrying with me 20kg+ of luggage (probably 3 kgs of it are chocolates.) What has supposed to take 5 minutes took me well over 10 minutes before I decided that I was lost. I attempted to find a reliable looking passerby for directions, and saw this Chinese looking man (I thought if he didnt speak English, I could speak to him in Chinese). And sure enough, when I spoke to him in English, he asked me if I could speak Mandarin! He kept asking me where abouts I'm from, if I'm traveling alone and all that chit-chat kinda thing when I was obviously freaking out as I desperately wanted to find the hostel... Well eventually he did get me there. Thank God! He said that I was very brave to be out there like that myself. I just know for sure that I am never going to arrive at a new city at night again...

Well, today basically I went on a tour around Munich with a bunch of ppl from the hostel. By the way, this hostel is pretty loud and full of young people. There is a bar in the hostel which blasts music all night long and even as I am typing this. Walking around the city today made me realise how much I REALLY miss it in Berlin. So far, that is the only city that I can imagine myself living in in Europe (let's hope PwC will transfer me there one day). There are too many things I love about Berlin and I will perhaps write about it again next time. Munich is a nice little place with the city centre all clustered together in the middle so there is no need to take the train as often like in Berlin. It is very much a Catholic city (as opposed to the Protestant Berlin) and everywhere you go you see something Bavarian! It is also a city that shaped Hitler before he came to power in Berlin...

After the tour, me and Whitney (a girl from Atlanta) had a blackforest cake (it came from here i think) from this posh cafe and wandered around the city taking photos. We climbed up 360 steps of this cathedral to take some pictures of the city from above! Anyways, just had Italian for dinner (btw, I am really worried that I am going to get diabetes from major sugar overload in the past couple of days...) and now back in hostel doing my laundry...(as I type the last line, I realised I had left my clothes in the machine for well over 2 hours so ran all the way to pick up my clothes...yay still there! :p)

So, I've been doing A LOT of planning today and here are my itinerary for the next couple of days.

11th Sept - Neuschwanstein (Disney Castle!) day trip
12th Sept - Deutsche Museum/arvo train to Salzburg
13th Sept - Salzburg (The hills are alive....I'm so excited)
14th Sept - Salzburg/arvo train return to Munich
15th Sept - Munich (might visit Potatoe Museum or Olympic Stadium)
16th Sept - Day trip to Rothenburg
17th Sept - Either Switzerland (Zurich?) or Paris...need to check up on that.

Well, I better get to bed soon. There are 2 people in my dorm that are asleep by 8pm every night. I always have to try to tiptoe around the room and be extra quiet when I'm in the room. Tonight, it seems like all the beds in the room are occupied so I'll be up extra early tmr for the bathroom! :D

sobbing again

so the time has come for the tour to conclude. i hate goodbyes and im terrible at it... almost everyone has left this morning for home or further traveling, and i am still in berlin for the next 2 days. feels horrible to be alone in this big city again without my friends and people to hang around with and it seems like nothing is familiar anymore.

anyways, onto something more positive. this trip has been amazing...i met so many great people and saw some great sights...and best of all, He is still continuing to teach me throughout the trip through my circumstances...i have been challenged to think and act differently.

i'm so glad that i had chosen contiki instead of trafalgar for the eastern europe tour. no i didnt turn into a party animal...it was just great being about to tour around some of the most mesmerizing countries with a bunch of people. 'eastern road' is the name of this tour, and i am truly fascinated with the history of the six countries that i had visited.

----

ok, that was the post from yesterday. i am now back in the hostel trying to do some research for Munich tmr. the train ride would take around 6 hours!!

i spent most of my time today at 2 places. the first place is KaDeWe, Berlin's best department store. however, i did not shop around for clothes, instead i went to the gourmet food/supermarket level and tried to figure out what is in the nice packagings covered with german words. the chocolate section there would make a chocoholics dream come true. they have all the brands you can imagine and more. i bought some mozart chocolates for jen and got some kinder hippo chocolate for myself. the second place i visited was Saturn, which is a bit like Harvey Norman with all the electronic products. i bought an adaptor as i had lost them whilst on contiki, and then spent hours at the CD/DVD section. i was craving for some music. not chopin or beethoven type music, but music with lyrics that i can sing to. i listened to lifehouse on repeat (it sucks that they only let u listen to sections of a song) and contemplated about whether to buy the album or not.

ok...i should try and find something to do. i didnt come all the way to europe to be sitting in front of the computer at 3:20pm. :)

Warsaw

I don't think I will ever forget my visit to the Aushwitz concentration camp today in Poland. It is a extermination site for mainly Jews and some other minority races back in the 40's and it lead to the death of more than 1 million human beings. There was this HUGE room full of the shoes of the perished, as well as a room full of their glasses piled up together and 3 rooms filled with the clothes of young children. Also kids were being used as "lab rats" where cruel scientific experiments were being performed on them. Being inside the gas chamber as well as the crematoria really sent shivers up my spine. This visit really gave a whole new meaning to the Holocaust and I am unable to comprehend fully how this event in history (quite recent as well!) could have happened even though I was standing at the very site...

Anyways, so there are 2 more days of Contiki left! I am now in Warsaw and staying at this really nice hotel with free wireless :D As usual, my roomie is out partying so I basically get the whole room to myself all the time! Hehe. Well, I am overwhelmed with the things that I need to update about as so much has happened in the past couple of weeks and because I don't make it a habit to write on my journal daily, it's hard to recall the little (but interesting!) incidents on my trip! I've met a lot of people in hostels (when traveling alone) and also with the tour. Oh, I also got to attend a Sunday Service in Berlin where I met someone from UNSW who is now living in Berlin! What a small world!

Ok, I will randomly choose some photos to post now.

Seriously after visiting so many places, I've forgotten where this was taken. Probably Prague? :p

Chopin!! Event tho he's Polish, this star of fame was found in Vienna!

This is the Danube River in Budapest!!! Is it GREEN or BLUE? If you see blue, you're in LOVE!

Anyways, need to catch up on my sleep now! A full day ahead of me in Warsaw...

Btw, I do not even want to eat Polish food again.

Czech me out!!!

I am now in the beautiful (but overly crowded) city of Prague! Have actually written a number of posts in the past few weeks but never got to post them. Next time I promise...with photos as well!

So Prague wasn't as what I had imagine it'd be like. It's amazing seeing the archictures and what the country was like being taken over by the communists decades ago. I'm a bit disappointed that I'm constantly squashed/surrounded by tourists everywhere I am...but other than that, this place is definitely worth visiting!! THe beer here are so much cheaper than water. About 1 Euro for a large glass....they are also apparently the best beer in the world (altho Germany claim that also). I had my first shot tonight. They told me it was some herbal alcohol, and that most old people here have a shot every morning as it is good for the heart and blood. I seriously thought I was going to pass out afterwards so that is why I am now back in the hotel trying to recover.

Tmr, I am heading for Vienna...the home of good ole Mossie!!! I am excitied about visitng the place where he played for this Queen when he was five...

Will try and update whenever I can.

Btw, had the most amazing time in Berlin...it was the most memorable trip and I was so touched by this incident that I will post about later!!! Ok, sleeping time for granny!!

still alive

I really should drop by and say greetings from Copenhagen and update on all the travel tales for the past few weeks. I had hardly any internet access until now (the rate on the cruise was US$0.50/min!)
However I'm not in the best mood. Today while swishing my coffee around in my cup...it suddenly hit me that I am going to be alone verrry soon traveling by myself. Next destination is Berlin. The hostel people there gave me the following instructions to get to the hostel:

arriving at spichernstrasse
take exit "hohenzollerndamm" and follow down pariser after about 150m you will find us on the left side at 58
hope this helps.

No, that doesn't help.

I'm off for now. Taking a train to Sweden (Malmo) tomorrow.

I miss my bed...

routes

My tentative routes...

The blue lines represents the places that will be visited while on the cruise...

The pink lines represents the routes of Contiki tour while the red lines represents the path that I will take by myself.

home sweet home...

I am back...however have been in bed with the fever since Monday! I knew that was coming, as so many people on the tour were coughing their eyes out during the last few days... Went to the doctors today and waited for 1.5 hrs, coz apparently so many people have the same flu!

So...I've much to update...but not now as I feel like I am hallucinating and my brain is being fried. This morning I fell from the top of the stairs to the bottom coz my legs felt weak...LOL. When I'm old, I'm definitely not going to live in a 2-storey house.

Spent all week watching Anne of Green Gables (it made me cry so many times...don't know why I get extra emotional whenever I'm sick) and reading The Heavenly Man (have truly been challenged!)

Anyways, Europe planning has once again been delayed. I'm leaving in a week too! Not good at all!

travel journal

Our tour has arrived in Taipei last night...it has been a week on the road already and am I glad to be back to being surrounded by terrible traffic and high rise buildings!

Today, I "sneaked out" of the tour activities to come home to do laundry and check my email (and my thesis mark!!) etc...

When I got home, I saw in the mailbox a present from NZ!

It is the perfect present - a travel journal! I'd been wanting to get one before I leave for Europe! Thanks for such a thoughtful present and the effort to send it to me :) Love that photo of us as well...*hugs* Thanks guys...It's the best travel journal I've seen and I've been flipping thru it over and over...so interesting to read the travel reminders amongst all those other traveling stuff in there...I sure will be using it in my trips!

"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train" - Oscar Wilde

A little update on my trip. I've been quite sun burnt and sweating like a pig all day long... I'd like the trip to end now but unfortunately there are still 2 more weeks. The sceneries down south are nice but does not take my breathe away... Oh, and I am horrified of the stinky squatting toilets...UGH. I truly not know how to begin describing those experiences with the toilets during the trip...such a contrast to the Toto toilets in Japan that nicely warms your butt.

Most of the tour members are a lot younger than me. Hmmm a lot of high school drama and gossiping going on...hmmm. Should I even mention dodgy people who steals pillows/slippers from the hotels? :( I really do miss those days of traveling in the US with Vivian with the tour and having someone to have great conversations with! Last night there was this huge party and all I wanted to do was to go back to the hotel and sleep. I know...I really am turning into a granny :)

Alright...got heaps more emails to reply then am going to dinner before heading back to join up with the group.

At pebble beach...

14 more days.........

Wow, I didn't know I'd get internet access so soon! :)

It is only the first day of my tour! Ok, so a little update. I arrived at Tainan this arvo after 2 hours on the high speed train! Some tour guides came and pick me up and I met two Canadian guys who are also joining this tour. They drove us to this uni (I didn't even know this uni existed!) where we registered and paid for the trip. Apparently there are 140 ppl in this tour this year and so we are all split into different teams and different buses.

Tonight, I am staying at the dorm room of this university. It is dodgy...hmmmm. There are 3 other girls sharing the room (2 from London, another girl from Sydney) and tonight we've been just getting to know all the other members. We all got so bored that we found the computer room in the uni and everyone seems to be on the facebook now! LOL. It seems like most of the ppl here are younger than me! Most of them have just started uni and some even still in high school. The tour guides (they are actually students from this university) think all of us are incapable of speaking Mandarin so they've been talking to me so slowly. They are pretty "strict" as well. Like just before when we were leaving the room...this girl (who seems to be minding the corridor or something) with the most worried look on her face, asked us where we were going etc. Quite funny I have to say. Maybe she thougth we were going to visit the guys' dorm rooms or something?... I feel like I'm back in high school...

There's supposed to be this introductory meeting now, but I guess they canceled it because not everyone has arrived. Let's hope tomorrow will be more interesting eh?

traveling light

[HEART] missing home already
[EYES] The Heavenly Man by Bro Yun.
[EARS] noisy taipei traffic and *bark bark*
[HEAD] dizzy
[HANDS] squashing everything into tiny luggage

I leave today for the tour around the Island...taking a high speed rail to the most southern part of Taiwan (only takes 2 hours!) and meeting the rest of the tour members there!

I'm soo excited but I feel like a cold or flu is creeping up on me. Ugh.

The last few days have been eventful and I will update when I get back from my trip I guess...in 2 weeks.

How am I supposed to live without the internet for so long? How how how?!?! heheh.

Le Cordon Bleu (Paris)

Paris - Workshop : Autumn Pastry, Cakes
09/29/2007
Description: 6 hour themed workshop
Additional Date & Time Information 8:30am to 3:30pm
Course Duration 1 Day
Prerequisites 18 years old or older
Tuition EUR 142.00

Paris - Workshop : Freshly Baked Pastries
10/20/2007
Description: 6 hour themed workshop
Additional Date & Time Information 8:30am to 3:30pm
Course Duration 1 Day Prerequisites 18 years old or older
Tuition EUR 142.00

Paris - Workshop : Petits Fours
10/13/2007
Description 6 hour themed workshop
Additional Date & Time Information 8:30am to 3:30pm
Course Duration 1 Day
Prerequisites 18 years old and older
Tuition EUR 142.00

Paris - Demo & practical : Cooking for Friends
Description: The day begins with a Chef demonstration followed by a tasting. You will then prepare one of the dishes demonstrated under the supervision of a Chef. You will be able to return home and dazzle your guests with your culinary wizardry! Translated into English.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2007
Tomatoes stuffed with large shrimp marinated with dill, horseradish Chantilly Saltimbocca style sautéed veal, crisp vegetables with herbs Strawberries in red wine, marjoram granita
SATURDAY OCTOBER 6 2007
Lobster fricassee with fresh tomato, mushroom ragout Stuffed chicken legs cooked with green lentils from Puy Mascarpone mousse served in a glass with flambéed banana
SATURDAY OCTOBER 27 2007
Leek and shallot compote, poached egg and Roquefort cream sauce Lamb with large white “Tarbais” beans Hot orange flower water flavored soufflé

Additional Date & Time Information 8:30am to 3:30pm
Course Duration 1 Day
Tuition EUR 142.00


I may be returning from Europe a culinary artist! If anyone is willing to sponsor me that is... So costy...these short courses. I'd love to get a diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney some day though.

its been 5 years!

Got to spend all day with my little cuz before she leaves for NZ tomorrow. She's so cute!

i love bento

I spent all morning packing and therefore did not get to go for a swim. Because we had to check out by 12pm, for the remainder of the time in Tokyo we went to the nearby museum (The National Art Center) to check out the architecture and the neighbourhood of our hotel. Before we hopped on the bus to the airport, we made a final visit to my favourite place - the supermarket!

The Japanese ppl I'd come across are so apologetic and courteous...always telling me how sorry they are for not being able to speak better English! It made me feel terrible.
I also learnt that you are not supposed to wear your shoes into the changing rooms. Several times I had forgotten about this custom which had the sales ladies panicking and shrieking in terror.

Cute yoghurt bottles...makes you wanna eat them all!

A supermarket which sells all kinds of bento...

Did I mention how much I love bentos?

If only the fruits at coles are packed like these...

Aunty and I

Me and mummy at the hotel lobby


The National Art Center

A French restaurant inside the museum (at the top of the cone)...it had the longest line coz

of its world renowned chef Paul Bocuse.

Mum and I outside hotel before we left...

Lunch time is here....while waiting for boarding time...

It's sad leaving Tokyo...it had been a delicious trip...

regret

We've been thinking about extending our stay here in Tokyo...there are way too many places unvisited and I'd really like to see more of Japan outside central Tokyo. I sort of wish that I do not have to work next year so that I could join Nova and teach English in Japan for a year...It would be nice to learn the language and see all that Japan has to offer. Oh well...some day.

Ok here are some of the places in Tokyo I still need to visit:
-Ginza
-Omotesando
-Ebisu
-Tsukiji (fish market)
-Shinjuku gyoen Park

Perhaps I shall squeeze in another trip to Japan after my Euro trip...but that depends on the seriousness of my debt. :p

Today mum's friend treated us to lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant...and I don't even remember the name of it! Altho I haven't been to Tetsuya's in Sydney, but I can imagine it to be something similar to what we had. My only regret was that I didn't take any photos...:( It was so posh there and I didn't want to look all touristy in front of all these other people. Before the meal, they even give you a list of what will be served on this pretty piece of paper (exactly like how Iron Chef Michiba writes out his 'menu' in calligraphy). Every dish was so delicate and made with so much thought that I was guessing how the judges on Iron Chef would critic each dish. ("The combination of the flavours just explode in your mouth" lol..)

I also met mum's friend's kid at lunch. It was funny trying to communicate with him with his limited English and our broken Chinese.

H: "So where do you live now?"
Me: "Sydney"
H: *looking blank"
Me: "See-doe-nee"
H: "Ohhhhh so-desu ka"

One thing I am sure. I definitely do not want to work in Tokyo. He said at Sony he gets off work at 12am everyday!!!!! He even lives in those company provided dormitory...I was just thinking how horrible...not having your own free time.

Throughout the whole day, my legs felt disconnected from the rest of my body. I haven't walked so much for a long time. I bought a new camera today...and some work clothes. One last thought...never go shopping in Tokyo during the sales period.

Still have half a day tmr before we head to the airport. Sayonara Japan...see you again soon.

Street performer...the little puppet thing on the ground does everything asked...when I shouted "sleep"...it actually collapsed on the group...strange huh? no strings attached!

Desserts at Takano in Shinjuku

Don't judge those by their plain appearances. They are melon-flavoured buns. The tastiest buns ever. Sooooooooo fingerlicking good..

White peach is in season right now. Oh so juicy...

Hmmmmm....this is how I look all day long...

This trip is like a eating tour...all I did was eating..then more eating...

my tanjoubi

My poor aching feet....we've been walking around so much that every night I need to soak my feet in hot water to relief the pain.

My birthday also falls on Day Three of this trip. I got to spend it with my mum. I love her so much! She even woke me up at midnight to wish me a happy birthday...hehe.

Strangely enough, I love communicating with the Japanese people. I'd be speaking to them in English while they reply in Japanese...and it didn't seem like anything was lost in translation. They are so cute...especially the older people.

This stone is called "Shape of Mind" and it is designed by Kan Yasuda

Pineapple KitKat anyone?

Had those rice balls for brekkie...hmmm

Customers of this noodle place can only dine standing up.

The soba was cooked to just the right amount of chewiness

I'd thought the white part was egg white...but it is actually mashed gooey yam?

Watching this on TV last night...prettyy.

We treated ourselves to this before heading back to hotel. It is the best dessert I've ever tasted.

Iron Chef MICHIBA! You can't go wrong with this (instant) soup...:p I can't wait to try this when I get home.

Cuteness

Day Two has been amazing...I feel like I'm this wide-eyed tourist who jumps up and down at every little thing I see! There are simply too much to see here...today we were taken around by mum's friend who has lived in Tokyo for over 20 years. She took us to this really cool discount store which is exclusive for certain people (I don't really know how she got the membership tho). The store sells everything from Japanese kimonos to cash registries..hehe. I guess it is a bit like Wal-Mart in the US except everythings in great quality and it is the kind of store that you enter only wanting to buy one item but end up leaving with a hundred. Me and mum are always up for bargains so we spent well over 4 hours at the store...

I'm usually not one who is into anything 'cute'...but today I got those cute lunch boxes with several compartments plus patterned linen sacks to carry them in. I can already imagine taking them to work next year and getting weird looks from colleagues! I like!

Posh mineral water...Norwegian design

Tokyo-ites love their bikes...thus pollution here isn't so bad!

Famous shopping district Shinjuku

Dinner at this place famous for its tempuras!

Cute Jap man frying the tempuras...

Menu

ita-daki-masu!!!!