-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!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, September 14, 2007
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?
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?
Monday, September 10, 2007
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
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
Friday, September 7, 2007
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. :)
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. :)
Monday, September 3, 2007
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.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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...
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...
Thursday, August 2, 2007
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!
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!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
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!
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.........
Monday, July 9, 2007
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?
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?
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