nice is nice

im in nice now. arrived here from paris on tgv. paris was fun. I walked a lot and also took the metro and rer many many time just to make my day mobilis ticket worth it. haha. EUR 12.40 ok.. I will remember paris for the climb on the eiffel tower and the pesky and irriating beggers who comes to you and ask you if you understand english. if you said yes, they will show you a paper with some words written and after you read it they will pester you to donate.

My stay at Isabelle was great. Food was great. :)

Im in Nice now. Hope everything will be nice. haha! insyaallah.

paris

Paris, the city of romance. It truely is beautiful at night. I arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon. The flight was somewhat horrible. Ppl were all rushing to get to the best seats cause it was free seating. Before that, i made friends with an American girl who was waiting for her connecting flight to NY.
Isabelle and Bernard prepared lunch, which was halal roasted chicken. NICE LAR. haha.

In the evening? i walked along river seine, saw all the monuments up close.

Paris is colder thqn Spain. Brrrrr!

granada

Granada is a beautiful city. Thhere is something special about it. Probably because of the Al Hambra? Anyways, my bed and breakfast in Lecrin Valley was just awesome. I had a room of my own with an attatched bathroom. Breakfast was filling.And when i said filling, i really mean filling. Well, in all, i paid EUR 60 for two nights. It was really worth my money and experience. I mean, how many of us will get to experience living in a typical Spanish house in a Valley. Anyways, Getting to Granada City from Lecrin Valley was a bit of a hassle. My host would dropme in Durcal when i will have to wait for the urban bus to pick me up to Granada City. The timings of the bus... well, it´ll come when it comes. haha!

And so I reached the AL Hambra slightly before noon. There was a group of Japanese university students in front of me, together with their teacher, who was spanish. She asked meto join her group and I obviously agreed to it. Had I not met the group, i wouldnt have been able to cover the grounds of the AL Hambra in detail. So we snapped lots of pictures. But unfortunately i can´t post them online, yet. When you think the Sagrada is beautiful, waith until you see the Al Hambra. No words can describe the beauty. The details in all the works of art.

In the evening, i met up with Ester who brought me to the Albacin.This was supposed to the the oldest neighbourhood in Granada and it certainly was. We walked uphill until we reached and open area. Ester pointed out to me the Granada mosque, which mak lang also mentioned. I took the opportunity to do my zohor and asar prayers there. The mosque itself is beautiful, overlooking the Al Hambra.

I´m now in Madrid. Took the ALSA train for the price of EUR16, the cheapest way to get to Madrid from Granada. Initially, i wanted to stay at Atocha train station so that i could save money.However, little did i realise that they actually close the train station for the night! damn! and my backpack´s in the locker at the train station! urgh! So i´m now at the MADhostel, 2metro stops away from Atocha Station. So much for trying to save money. Well, time for plan B. After the day trip tml, I´ll pick my backpack up, go to the airport and lock it there. I´ll probably spend a night or two there since it´s free and the airport never closes. Must save money. Anyways, I have yet to buy any soveniers. Haha!so ppl,don´t expect anything from me when i return.

BCN-GRX

I am at barcelona airport now waiting for my plne to granada. Woke up early today just so i would not miss the MONBUS which takes me from Sitges bus terminal to the airport, direct. Imme sent me to the bus terminal as it is a distance from her home. Yesterday evening, we went to Sitges town centre. It really is a beautiful seaside town with lots of alleys. So we walked long the beach an through the old town quarters. At night, Imme´s boys came home from their father´s. Imme was worried cause they were supposed to be home at 9pm. Am meeting Ester tomorrow evening, maybe for dinner or just to walk through Granada´s own streets. I hope i´ll be able to get tickets to see the al-hambra..

barcelona, montserrat

Was at Barcelona the whole day yesterday. Visited Sagrada familia and park guell. Sagrada is a must see for anyone who is in barcelona s it it Antonio Gaudi´s most famous work of art. Park guell has lots of mosiacs..tiles.. IMAN, SARAH, THAT WAS WHERE CHEETAH GIRLS FILMED! haha!

Went hiking this morning at Montserrat. Followed Josep and a group made up of Spanish ppl. The area we here at had 0 tourist. YES! Tt´s what im looking for when i´m overseas. It was a 3 hr long hike and the view was stunning. 0 drop of sweat. haha!

hola

im in spain right now. sitges to be exact. my host house overlooks the montain ranges and the sea, and it´s located on a hill. nice view, mama will love it. but sorry, no money to buy you such house. crap, got lost just now, the metro and train system is so confusing and there´s no escalators, only stairs. was at las ramblas, went to the mosque at raval district to do friday prayers. lunch and dinner was simple. gosh, i have no chain of thoughts, all mixed up. too tired from all the flying and walking. hear from mee very soon. oh, and mama, i think your hp is spoilt. oh, sunset now, bye bye.. haha!

the day i have been waiting for is here..

Bye bye Singapore. Hola Barcelona.

maple leaf, maple syrup

I've just returned from the airport. I spent a sleepless night there together with Kenneth, a couchsurfer from Canada who is currently doing his round-the-world trip. Kenneth stayed from 5th to 10th Feb. I wasn't at home during the first night he was here because i was away on duty. Subsequently, i was busy till 090209, the day i ORD. Kenneth was lucky to be able to watch a simple military parade at my camp. Yesterday, we went to Pulau Ubin and cycled round the island for a couple of hours. It was only then that i managed to bring him around.



2 more days

pre-trip preperation

I've started with my packing my stuff yesterday simply because i wouldn't be at home for the next 4 days. After which, i would be busy during the weekends due to ORD rehearsals and the actual parade itself. I've more or less gotten everything ready, except for a few essentials such as my toiletries. I'm still considering on bringing lesser clothings (read:t-shirts) but i might reconsider after taking into the account Europe's colder than expected at this time of the year.

I should be done with my research on the places that i will be going to, i guess. Anyways, here is the final itnerary.

singapore-barcelona-granada-madrid-paris-nice-geneva-bern-zurich-copenhagen-berlin-barcelona-singapore.

As for those wondering where i will be staying at:
1) barcelona: cs at Marc's
2) granada: guest house, casa de la justa
3) madrid: TBC
4) paris: cs at Isabelle's
5) nice: hotel pastoral
6) bern: cs at Markus's
7) zurich: cs at Frei's
8) copenhagen: cs at Jens's
9) berlin: cs at Aline's
10) barcelona: feetup hostel

I will be flying most of the time:
1) SIN-BCN-SIN on British Airways
2) BCN-GRX on Clickair
3) MAD-CDG on Easyjet
4) NCE-GVA on Flybaboo
5) ZRH-CPH on Swiss Int Air
6)CPH-TXL on Scandinavian Air
7)SXF-BCN on Easyjet

Besides flying, i will also be taking the train:
1) Within Switzerland using the swiss youth pass
2) Between Paris and Nice on TGV

And the bus:
1) Between Granada and Madrid

friends from Hangzhou

Wei Wang, Leer Li and Foo came from Hangzhou and stayed over at my place for 3 nights. It was fun having them around. We went to Sentosa and got burnt by the scorching heat. All eyes were constantly on the girls as they shielded themselves from the sun's rays with their shawls. Haha! We went to the Istana as it was open on the second day of Chinese New Year. Later in the evening, we met up with another fellow couchsurfer and had our dinner at Bugis.