..:travellingale:..

The wierdest things to bring to the UK

2008-07-21T15:45:00.002+08:00

It's my last day in SG. Since I only have at most another 6mths in the UK, my luggage is packed with 10% clothes, 10% toiletries, and 80% food.

Food includes the typical MUST HAVE items such as:
-Bak Kwa (request from my angmoh colleagues. Yes, they LOVE bak kwa! Seriously, we should make this our national food.)
- Chilli sauces e.g. maggie chilli sauce, sambal chilli etc...
- Instant noodles (cheaper and much more variety in SG than overseas).
- Kaya spread.

And some GOOD TO HAVE items:
-Durian flavoured cookies and sweets (to erm.. "educate" my angmoh colleagues).
- Canned vegetarian food e.g. zai pao yu, lou han zai (because they're almost non-existent overseas).
- Cooking seasonings
- Dried food e.g. hei bee (dried shrimps), guava etc...
- Tau Sa Pau
- Kueh lapis

And some items that I NEVER imagined that I'll bring:
- Fresh chinese vegetables!
Yes, vegetables. SGD 0.50 worth of Xiao Bai Chai cost around SGD 3 in the UK! Bittergourd can only be found in Chinatown at an exorbitant prices. So, I guess cheapo me just can't resist the temptation. 2 weeks worth of chinese vegetables was definitely NOT enough to compensate for 1 year's worth of deprivation! Actually, 2 weeks worth of SG food is NOT enough!!!!! It kinda just make me dread returning back to the UK. :(

I hope I don't get stopped at the customs. Else it's gonna be embarrassing... Really embarrassing... :p

I am home!

2008-07-05T21:48:00.003+08:00

After a gruesome 13hrs plane ride, I finally touched down at Changi Airport at 5.25pm!

Being born and bred here, I'd think that I can adjust back to the environment within seconds. WRONG! After 4 hours, I still feel that the air is way too humid! I had to put in effort to breathe deeply just to get air into my lungs! The only time when I experienced problem with humidity was in Shanghai, when the temperature was hot hot hot. The weather today was warm, but not hot. Even now, as I type, I can still the discomfort.

Another thing that took some getting used to was the crowd! I'd forgotten how it feel like rushing about with the rest of the Singaporeans. The good thing is, I don't stand out like a sore thumb, unlike in the UK. The bad thing is, I don't fancy rushing about with the rest of the people like a busy bee, chasing after the 5Cs...

Wierd wierd wierd... Those aren't what I'd felt when I returned from US the last time... Once again, I've changed...

Nothing has changed much, except that my wardrobe and most of my cupboard shelves have been officially converted into a family storage area. Where am I going to keep all the clothes I bought from UK? Hmmm....

I am going home for 2 weeks!!!

2008-06-27T04:49:00.002+08:00

I am going home!!!

So... hopefully between 5th and 20th July, I'll be able to post some super over-due pictures. Loads of pictures of many places to upload.

Apart from meeting some friends and family, I haven't made much plans regarding what to do in SG. But... I do intend to indulge, and very possibly over-induge in a lot of food!!!

Char Kway Teow
Fish Ball Mee Pok
Hokkien Mee
Fried Bee Hoon
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Duck Rice
Shun Kueh
Char Siew Pao
Meat dumplings
Sugarcane juice
Ching Chow drink
Fried Carrot Cake
Fried Oyster and Eggs
Durians
Dim Sum
and many many more!!!!!!!!
and of course, my Mom's cooking! haha...

Can't wait to see everyone in SG too! And I have this strong urge to meet many friends whom I've not kept in touch for ages! It'll definitely be great to catch up with them, and recollect the old times, when we were still young and very silly.

Can't wait!!!

Quick Update

2008-05-21T04:55:00.002+08:00

I know I know... It's been ages since I posted anything...

Since Nice, I've been to Madrid (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Hamburg and Berlin (Germany), and am just back from Salzburg and Vienna (Austria). Not forgetting another London day trip, I've tonnes of pictures to organize and upload... But doubt I'll be posting them up anytime soon because I'm going to London again on thursday, then Wales this weekend!

It's supposedly summer period, so everyone is travelling!!! In fact, it's travelling almost every other weekend... for those super hardcore travel-addicts, it's a trip every weekend! Yes it is ultra tiring, physically and mentally (coz I do get really sleepy at work)... I'll probably look back 20 years later thinking that I was mad to go on a travel race, but... it's worth it!

Anyway, I'm going back to Singapore from 5th - 20th July! Looking forward to seeing all the special ppl in my life! :D

Eze - 3rd March

2008-04-07T04:15:00.002+08:00

The following day after St Paul de Vence, we went to another medival town known as Eze (pronounced as "Ass" :p ). Eze has a wonderful view of the sea, but I do feel that St Paul is more exquisite. Anyway, here're some pictures of Eze.

Lost and found!!! Presenting... My new Lamborghini!!!

France is the capital of perfume! In Cote D'Azur, Grasse is the place to go if you want to visit the perfume factories. Luckily for time-restricted travellers like us, there's also one such factory in Eze, saving us from making a trip to Grasse...

Loads of tourists, loads of perfume products.

The best quality perfume are stored in Aluminium containers, protected from sunlight. The company claims that the perfumes can last 6 years in such containers.

Apparently, high fashion companies like Gucci, Chanel etc purchase these best quality perfumes from them, dilute them, and then sell to us! So... if you want value for money, this place is probably a good venue to buy perfumes. But mind you, it's still not cheap cheap. 120ml perfume can easily cost 75 Euros... Well... at least it's still expensive for lowly paid me... :(

Bizzare english weather

2008-04-07T03:35:00.004+08:00

One can never understand how the english weather works... We're already officially in the British Summer Time, with flowers blooming, and the temperature reaching a comfortable 15 deg Celsius just 2 days ago.

But... it snowed today! Amazingly, the snow was inch thick!!! That hadn't happened at all during the winter months. In fact, it hardly snowed at all during winter. I can only remember seeing some snow-like resemblance twice.

Anyway, the weather prediction for the next 3 days are as follows:

Merry belated Christmas ppl!

St Paul de Vence - 2nd March

2008-03-13T04:46:00.015+08:00

After Cannes, we made our way to the fortified, medivel town of St Paul de Vence. It is a pretty tiny place, taking about 30mins to walk one round around its perimeter.

Being on the hill top, the view is amazing!!! People of the past do know how to enjoy life!

Then again... I guess trying to get water to the top of the hill is pretty tiring...

St Paul de Vence is a pretty nice art place. It has loads of galleries all around, in addition to pubs, restuarants, shops etc...

Interesting looking chair! Not sure whether it'll be comfortable or not though...

Cannes - 2nd March

2008-03-12T04:00:00.013+08:00

Failing to find a Super Rich, Super Hunky guy (SRSH) in Nice, we set off to Cannes the following day. Despite it not being the film festival, there may still be a chance of us meeting a super star! Many of whom also happen to be SRSH.

French retailers don't work on sundays... Lucky them! But poor us shoppers...

Our main stop in Cannes was the Palais des Festivals et des Congres - venue for the annual Cannes Film Festival.

And.... what do you know?! We met some famous people!!!

Mr Austin Powers!

Spiderman!

and The Bride from Kill Bill!

After getting some mojo, learning to spin webs at dark corners of the house, and mastering the skill of chopping people's arms off, we were ready to take on the world! Beware SRSH guys! Heh heh heh...

As we explore the unknowns of Cannes, we found...

The handprints of famous people!!!

and erm... not so famous people...

It was an adventurous morning! Unfortunately, our mission failed again. No SRSH found. The closest thing to SRSH is...

This japanese guy pretending to be a super star...

I think something's wrong with my mojo...

Nice - 1st March

2008-03-08T03:55:00.012+08:00

After 30mins of train, 1hour of bus ride, 30mins of walking, and 2hours of flight, we finally arrived at Nice aka the rich ppl's place. Like what we've read and heard, this place is a pretty place! Perfect for a relaxing break in summer!

No, this is not a train! Although it does look like the metro/tube, it's only a tram. But... it's the sleekest tram I've ever seen!

Did I mention that rich ppl comes to Nice? I definitely won't mind owning an apartment that faces the sea. Oh! A yacht will be great as well! Hmm... although it's passed 29th Feb, I should start searching for a super rich, super hunky guy to propose to 4 years later! Nice seems like a good place to start!

Even the buskers here are rich enough to own a piano instead of the usual guitar/saxaphone/violin etc...

Guess I will buy some flowers from the Cours Selaya flower maket

Then bring the guy for some seafood meal... (Since he's supposed to be super rich and super hunky, he'll be footing all the bills ;-D)
Starting with mussels and oysters,

Moving on to fishes...

and ending with a tart for dessert...

And... topping it up with a fireworks show at night!

Now that I've it all planned out, the only thing to do is to look for that super rich, super hunky guy! heh heh heh...

I'm going to Nice, France!

2008-03-01T04:28:00.002+08:00

I'm going on a 3-day trip to Nice, France! The weather forecast is Sunny, sunny, and sunny!!!

But 1st, we've to brave through the cold night in London... We're setting off at 12 midnight to catch the train to London, then EasyBus to Luton Airport, sleep there for 3 hours before boarding the plane to Nice! It's hardcore travelling! Not for the faint heart!

3 days, 5 places! I can't wait!!!

29th February

2008-02-29T06:24:00.002+08:00

I just learnt not a couple of days ago from my English friends that 29th February is the day when females are allowed to propose to the males! So... I've essentially 25.5hours left to find the rich, tall, dark, handsome, humorous, kind, caring, smart Mr Perfect!!! Wish me luck ppl!!!

Stonehenge & Avebury, 15 September

2008-02-25T04:12:00.006+08:00

One of the must go attractions in the UK is the Stonehenge. So... that was where we went for our 1st trip all the way back in September 2007.

It was quite a nice day for a roadtrip -> bright and sunny! (Which I've come to realise that it's a pretty rare occurance.) It'd had been more perfect if we can enter into the middle of Stonehenge. Unfortunately, it is only open to the public on a particular day in Summer (so I heard). Not too sure what's the exact day it is, but suppose to be the time when it's the longest day in the year.

Next, we moved on to Avebury... to see more stones!

This stones are supposed to serve the same function as the Stonehenge, which's for some worship thingy. Although they are less grand than Stonehenge, they're free, and you can go all the way up close to touch them!

Guess which shadow's mine!

Clue: The one with the most creative pose! *Muahahhaha....*

I'm finally back on the Internet!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-20T05:02:00.003+08:00

After 6 months of deprivation from the internet, I can finally breathe!!! Woohoo!!!

The reason why I've been internet-less for sooooooo loooooooonnnnnnnggggggggggg, was that 1st, BT was super difficult to reach. I had to call a couple of times in order to reach the right contact person, and had been put on hold for around 2 hours for more than 1 time!!! Then, because the BT engineers doesn't work after office hours, someone had to take an off day from work just to wait for them to turn up to install the line! Apparently, good service is number 9870990890980 on BT's priority list. Customers are probably ranked 9870990890961.

Then, when we finally got a land line for internet, we couldn't really decide on which broadband plans to take up! Different from Singapore, UK companies doesn't always provide a router by default, and many plans have limited download of 8GB per month! I can use that up in maybe like 5hours!!! Even those that claims to be unlimited usage will limit your access speed if you take up too much of their ultra precious bandwidth!!!

And when we more or less decided on which plan to take up, we decided that we wanted to move house when our lease ends in mid February. So... basically... we wasted $$$ getting a land line, and had to suffer from the lack of connection with the outside world...

And when I finally moved house, my laptop crashed! The lousy Toshiba motherboard burnt out after just 2.5yrs!!! So... I had to get it sent back to Singapore for repair. (Special thanks to NivelK!!!)

Anyway... I'm simply relief that I can finally surf the internet at home!!! :D
No more illegal internet usage in the company! woohoo!!!

I moved!

2007-08-12T00:39:00.000+08:00

I moved! Since the new apartment won't have internet access for at least the next few weeks, I won't be able to update this blog. Anyway, today's my very last night at the temporary accommodation. I shall enjoy the internet, water, electricity & TV for the very last time! hehehe...

London Daytrip 05 Aug 07

2007-08-08T19:29:00.000+08:00

It's the 1st Sunday in UK! With the banks and offices closed, there's not much administrative stuffs we can do, so we decided to go to London!!! London is BEAUTIFUL!!! I just love the architecture!

Very unique bridge

Not sure what this building is called, but it looks kinda like Sleeping Beauty's castle to me.

A beautiful private cottage. I'd love staying there!
The Eye of London

It's bright and sunny and SCORCHING hot that day. With people fishing under the shade by the river, it's hard to believe that this place was flooded just a few weeks ago.

Big Ben! Or as D calls it "大苯钟".

Big Ben close up

Somehow, everyone seems to be taking pictures with the telephone booths! I did too! Haha...

Finally, the very famous Paddington Bear!

Greetings from Slough, UK

2007-08-04T15:51:00.001+08:00

This's my 5th day in Slough! I hadn't been able to really log online for the past few days, because the internet connection was horribly slow. There's supposed to be wireless connection in the apartment, but we weren't given the password!!! So, we attempted to use the LAN cable. Unfortunately, I still couldn't log online. My friend's laptop could, but it's very unstable. Usually, it takes about 10 painstaking minutes to load just 1 pathetic website... Anyway, I've kinda given up hope of accessing the internet from my apartment, so I shall camp over at another apartment more often from now on.

Here's some pictures I took on the plane & the airport.

Pretty sunrise!

UK!

Lots of luggages

The BA flight was pretty good! To my pleasant surprise, there was personal entertainment! Unfortunately, I was sitting too close to the wings, so the drone of the turbines was a little uncomfortable. & my poor-quality hair was fried by the dryness & static on the plane. It still hadn't recover yet, so I look like a scarecrow with hay for hair... Think I'll have to use loads of hair serum/moisturer...

Anyway, we were whisked off to our temporary apartment in Colnbrook after we landed. The apartment was beautiful!!!

There's also a plasma TV in the living room, but I don't have the picture now.

My beautiful bedroom! The ultra soft & fluffy bed has 4 pillows & 4 cushions, so when you lie down on it, you feel like you're swimming in a sea of pillows! Perfect!

Colnbrook - a small, quiet & beautiful village.

Life's good!

I'm flying off to UK!

2007-07-30T01:17:00.000+08:00

I am flying off to UK, Heathrow (London) in 22 hours time... I spent my entire day packing, and somehow I still have this dreaded feeling that I may have missed out some important things.

Although I have known for months that there's a high chance of me flying off on 30th July, things hadn't been settled until the very last minute. I only signed the contract and recieved my work permit 10 days ago, got my visa 4 days ago, and received my flight e-tickets 3 days ago. So things had been rush. Quite a few hiccups along the way, but I guess I shalln't whine about it. Like what Bingboom put on his MSN display name: " The loudest sound in the world is the sound of people whining", I shalln't contribute to noise pollution.

My friend & I did a stupid thing today. We were allowed to check in online 24hrs before our flight. So, being kiasu Singaporeans, we log onto the British Airways website at around 11pm so as to get the side-by-side seats with more leg room. After we finally decide on which seats to take, I clicked on the confirmation button. My friend, later by a minute or two, lost the seat to another person! The worse thing is, once confirmed, we can't change our seats again. So now, instead of the anticipated comfortable and enjoyable ride, we'll have to tolerate the 10hrs flight in silence & loneliness... *sob sob* So much for being greedy! Just hope that some tall, dark & handsome guy will sit beside me then. :p

Our "misfortune" wasn't as bad as NivelK's. He took too much time in deciding what seats to take that he got logged out of the website and was taken to have checked into his seat! Now he's stuck all the way at the back of the plane, just next to the washroom. Haha... Guess BA really don't like wishy washy people - don't let people change their seats more than once, and logging people out of the website if they take too long to decide.

Anyway, I can't imagine I'll be all the way at the other side of the globe by this time tomorrow. Is it going to be similar to the NCBV experience 2yrs ago? The size of the group on this program, as well as the $ we're receiving is similar enough. Just hope that work, travel, & everything else will be as fun. It's time to take on the world again! Hahaha...

BTW, I just realised that there actually IS an official definition for Kiasu. Kiasi wasn't included though.

Oh! And if you hadn't realise, this blog is the start of an attempt to record my travelling trips in UK & Europe. Hopefully I'll have the persistance to keep updating this thing. :p