12th Aug 2008 - Spain

Nearly two months ago, I was in a land so distant that I would not imagine myself being back in the centre of the equator. The land that I travelled to is a place where a melody runs through the land, and in doing so, unifies all its people. This land is known as Spain. In Spain, the national anthem is wordless as it is just a tune. From what I’ve gathered, there are 5 factions of people living in Spain and all speak different languages or dialects. Therefore, the anthem was conceived wordless to show equality.

My first destination in Spain was Madrid. It was a lovely and beautiful city. One thing that struck me during my stay there was the orderliness of it. The metro, or underground, is certainly much better than that in London or Paris. It is a shame really as both of the cities mentioned above are alpha first world cities. However, although I feel that I’m a person who appreciates cities more than nature, the place which I’m fondest of in Madrid is Park Retiro. To be precise, I adore the rose gardens found inside the park. Haha, all three of us, my mom, younger brother and me, were taking pictures while doing stupid poses! Also, I never really fancied Spanish rice, known as Paella, as I had tried it in Singapore and in the UK. However, even in Madrid, Paella isn’t that fabulous as well unless you dine at a place which specializes in it. I went to one such restaurant and it was both tantalizing and mouth-watering. The fish that my mom ordered was lovely to the palate as well. Unfortunately, we were all so hungry that by the time we wanted to take a picture of our meal, all that were left were the serving plates. It was, indeed, a shame.

Besides Madrid, I made a day trip to a nearby city called Toledo. It was the old Spanish capital if I’m not mistaken. I remembered the day as being really hot, say 30 degrees Celsius. To make matters worse, we were given wrong directions and we ended up walking for nearly two hours before reaching the old city leaving endless conquered crests in our wake. It was such a hilly place but it was splendid. Toledo is like a barren and non-luscious fort or keep that one sees in the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Thankfully, we took a mini tram, lasting about ¾ of an hour, which went around the entire ancient part of Toledo. It was certainly breathtaking and I could imagine myself being a knight then.

Barcelona was our final destination in Spain. It is much messier than Madrid and I was initially irked by the transportation system. In some of the smaller underground stations, there aren't bridges or underpasses in which one could cross over to the other platform. So there we were, three strangers who entered the station on the wrong side and were at a loss of what to do. It would certainly be foolish, if not stupid, to exit the station and buy another three tickets just to get to the other side of the platform. Eventually, we took the train in the wrong direction and alighted at a bigger station before we could cross over back to the correct platform. It was quite infuriating in all honesty. To worsen the situation, their underground systems are not integrated. Imagine if the ticketing in the north-south lines is different from that of the east-west line, one would have to exit the station and purchase another ticket if one needed to transit. In my opinion, I felt it was ludicrous. Coupled with the lack of clarity for the train network system, surely an irate traveler one would be. After lambasting the transport system, Barcelona does have its merits. The city is beautiful, even more so than Madrid and it is a place that appeals more to tourists. The architecture of Gaudi has left me deeply impressed. It is very distinct and unique till I find no words to aptly describe it for his works are really a blessing upon Barcelona. One only has to be there to witness his very work of arts to fathom and grasp the extent of the marvel of his talent. Besides the fabulous architecture, Barcelona’s shopping belt really puts Madrid’s high street to great shame. Although Madrid is the capital, the shopping arena contrasts starkly in comparison to Barcelona’s. It really is a lovely city, bar the metro and suburbs where Madrid has a definite clear advantage over Barcelona.

I went to another two smaller towns but I reckon they’re not worth mentioning so I guess these three main cities depict my experiences and feelings in the “land of melody”.

10th Jul 2008 - London & Paris Revisited

One month has just quickly flown by. I reckon this is the result of travelling for nearly a month. I’ve visited several places and I returned to London & Paris for a 2nd time. However, instead of being a carefree tourist in both cities, I was acting as the unofficial tour guide. As mentioned previously, my mom and younger brother flew over to Europe to meet me almost immediately after my examinations.

I remembered London as a huge city which I was fond of. It was one of the first few places I travelled to upon my arrival in Durham. Compared to the other smaller cities which I explored in the north of UK, nothing really comes close to London. In my opinion, even Edinburgh isn’t as awe-inspiring as London which may be an obvious statement haha. Although I did enjoy London, I felt wanting. It was as though an element seem to be missing from the capital of England. A few months later, I finally realized what that element is. Going to Paris was just simply amazing. Everything was extremely majestic and lovely. Surprisingly, I did not encounter any snobbish French people contrary to popular belief. I felt that Paris had a very unique and rustic charm whereby pictures do no justice to the absolutely splendid city. It was so enchanting and romantic being there, something which I didn’t feel when I was in London. Hence, I naturally favoured Paris over London.

A couple of months later, I made my way to both cities again. I knew what to expect as I’ve been there and am pretty familiar with both cities. What was flabbergasting was my paradigm shift of my views on both cities. I honestly grew to like London a lot despite it lacking in charm as compared to Paris. The English are so lovingly polite that it’s hard to fault them. I am impressed that no matter how busy or crowded the underground is, everyone would still queue to get onto the right side of the escalator and keep the left side free from obstruction for any passerby who is in a hurry. If only that happens in Singapore, I would be filled with glee. On my 2nd visit to Paris, I didn’t feel that it was as magical as before. There is no doubt it is still a very lovely city, one which I would highly recommend to others. Nevertheless, I was very disgruntled with a staff in Charles de Gaulle airport which is Paris’ main and international airport. I was asking the staff for directions, in English, to the display panel but she replied to me in French with a contorted expression on her face which screamed “too bad u do not speak French”. I was so annoyed by her condescending attitude and she even had the cheek to turn her back on me and walked away. I was utterly dumbfounded. It seemed ludicrous that I would face such treatment at their international airport and not along the streets of Paris. This isolated incident totally marred my 2nd visit to Paris. Well, English or French, your call =P

15th May 2008 - Pictures of Switzerland & Italy

It is 2 days to the commencement of my examinations! I’ve decided to write this short post before starting on my daily routine of revision. Well, the pictures of Zurich, Lugano, Schaffhausen, Lucerne & Venice are up! Hope you guys would enjoy them while I study away~

14th May 2008 - Birthday Mom =)

Today is a day of utmost importance for without it, I wouldn’t exist in this world so… happy birthday mummy! Hope your celebration later would be lovely and unique. Remember that it’s just a prelude to your main celebration in Europe in 2-3 weeks time! Your dearest second son would bring you on an extravaganza shopping trip in some of the most famous cities in the world i.e. London, Paris and so forth! I’m really looking forward to seeing you soon. It has been 246 days since I last saw you haha. Are you touched that I actually counted the days?

Well, here’s a little gift for you… pictures of Geneva, Bern, Fribourg and Interlaken! It’s nothing much, just a small gesture but I do hope you find them pretty. See you later then!

11th May 2008 - Summer Holidays

Goodness, examinations are commencing in 6 days! I haven’t updated my blog for about a month, so I thought this would be a good time to do so since I’m done with revision for the day. Oh yes, happy mother’s day, mom! I’m highly anticipating the day I conclude my examinations as my mom and brother would be flying over to Europe. I’ll be acting as their tour guide in both London and Paris and thereafter, we’ll explore a couple of places in Spain together, namely Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo and perhaps Salamanca. I am so totally looking forward to it. It’s a shame that my Dad wouldn’t be joining us as he’s really busy with work. Right now, I’m also trying to finalise my trip to Portugal. Hopefully I can get it done and out of the way soon. Planning for trips is such a hassle unless you’re willing to fork out cold hard cash to the travel agent to do all the planning for you.

During Easter break, I went to a number of places which was absolutely lovely. I can’t even count all of the places I’ve been to with my fingers alone. Amsterdam was alright, the tulips there are so pretty but you can get killed by the stupid trams and bicycles there! Switzerland is so picturesque, nothing short of being fabulous! Imagine the snow capped mountains, the clear blue lakes, the beautiful cities… The cuisine in Venice was delightful, nothing less than expected of Italian cuisine! Well, I will definitely upload all the pictures once I finish sorting them out which would be after my exams. It takes a heck of time to do so as I’ve been to so many places then.

After returning from my Easter holidays, I worked under an interior designer for about 2 weeks as part of my curriculum. It was certainly challenging but I learnt that engineering methodologies can also be applied to areas which are so non-engineering! It was overall a good experience although I was so tied up with work during those 2 weeks. After my short stint at the interior design company, it was time to hit the books as the exams were 2 weeks away which explains why I couldn’t upload any pictures. Furthermore, my mom informed me, at such a non-idealized timing, about her wanting to come to Europe. However, being a filial son, I shuffled between studies and planning for her trip and in doing so, I managed to finish planning the 16 days trip in about 3 or 4 days. Guess she should bequeath me with some nice gifts as a reward for my hard work. Haha, I’ve decided to bring lesser clothing for my trip so I would be left with no choice but to shop! Well, I’m really looking forward to seeing my family in London. It will be really lovely… till then, it’s back to studying!

21st Apr 2008 - Gatecrashing

Here I am doing something sinful while typing this blog entry. I’m drinking, and nearly finishing, a bottle (1 litre!) of Belgium chocolate flavoured milk that I bought today at the supermarket. Goodness, it has been so long since I drank such a thick and flavourful bottle of milk. Since arriving in the UK, I have only been drinking skimmed or semi-skimmed milk which is nearly the equivalent of water! Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only sinful thing I did.

Upon returning to the UK, I’ve been acting a little queerly, doing things which I’ve never done in the past. I jogged twice in the rain but at least this is excusable for it keeps me healthy and fit! However, my jogs were compromised as I’d finished 2 tubs of Ben & Jerrys ice cream in 4 days and ended up buying another tub on the 5th day. To add on, I’ve never been a fan of sausage rolls but I’ve eaten 7 sausage rolls in a week! My random and peculiar behaviour is rather worrisome… even to myself.

Last Friday, I cooked mussels for my friends. I guessed I bought them on impulse as I happened to be at the supermarket when the price of the mussels was reduced. After buying them, I decided to prepare them for my friends as a form of gratitude for the lovely “birthday” surprise they sprung on me. Thankfully I didn’t screw up while cooking as it would be utterly embarrassing!

What we did after dinner was even more fabulous. We had decided to gatecrash a joint birthday party and we didn’t even know the 2 birthday celebrants haha. It was my first time doing something like this and it turned out to be good fun. The trick is to pretend you know everybody at the party, if not majority of them at least, and then to introduce yourself to the host(s). For the wicked party, good music, free food and drinks, being unabashed and shameless was certainly worthwhile! It was a party that one would be familiar with as it was akin to those portrayed in American film, pretty awesome I would have to admit =P

Alright, my bed is beckoning me over. It’s time to enter my sweet (hopefully) state of slumber as I would have to arise at half six tomorrow and don on a suit as I would be going to an interior design company. Sigh, from dawn to dust, I would be away from the comfort of my room. Needless to say, the sad life of an engineer-to-be tsk tsk.

19th Apr 2008 - "Birthday" Surprise

It has been a week since I returned to Durham. These 7 days that passed don’t feel like 7 days as the week neither felt long nor short. It seems like I’m fleeting somewhere in between space and time. Wonder if it’s any good to do so or is it detrimental?

4 nights ago, my crazy European friends did something really out of the blue, yet special, for me. They declared 15th of April to be my birthday which obviously isn’t my birthday. They were clueless as to when my birthday is, so they just decided to make that day my birthday! When I met up with my clique that night, the girls suddenly just hugged me and wished me “Happy Birthday Denis!” Goodness, I was dumbfounded and was perpetually rooted to the ground after their antics. Furthermore, they prepared some small gifts for me which I thought was very sweet of them. Haha, my other friends even got conned by them into thinking it was my birthday that night. Of course, I vehemently sounded out that it was just a prank, albeit a very pleasant one, but no one seemed to have paid attention to what I was saying then -.- The situation was really hilarious and we all had a good laugh about it. It was quite a memorable night!

I found out that most of my friends’ parents are coming over to visit them in Europe bar mine. But I guess it’s alright since they can save more money that way… more cash for me to spend abroad =) My mom only knows how to send me list after list of items to buy for her in the UK. Haha, I’m exaggerating a little but yes, she did send me a list of “help-mom-to-buy” items. Oh well, not that I’m complaining. Gee, since I returned to Durham, I’ve been very much anticipating the day that I would set foot in Singapore again. I wouldn’t say it is purely homesickness but there’re several other reasons as well.

Anyway, this song that’s currently being played on my blog was recommended by a friend. She told me to listen to it only just before I retire for the night, and while listening to it, I’m not supposed to do anything else. Haha, it seems that she is rather demanding, don’t you think so? Well, being a nice person, I heeded her words. While listening to it, my emotions stirred, setting me into a thoughtful mood of reflection. It was definitely a lovely piece of music. So, Ms Demanding, I’ve placed this song for you on my blog. Hopefully, together with little splashes of raindrops outside your windowsill, this emotion provoking piece of music would enthrall your senses and feelings, thrusting you into a surreal state of fantasy…